Kevin's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 27 Jun 2020 06:44:39 -0700 60 Kevin's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Les Mis辿rables 24283
Sensational, dramatic, packed with rich excitement and filled with the sweep and violence of human passions, Les Mis辿rables is not only superb adventure but a powerful social document. The story of how the convict Jean-Valjean struggled to escape his past and reaffirm his humanity, in a world brutalized by poverty and ignorance, became the gospel of the poor and the oppressed.]]> 334 Victor Hugo 0449300021 Kevin 0 currently-reading, classics 4.29 1862 Les Mis辿rables
author: Victor Hugo
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1862
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/27
shelves: currently-reading, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Summa Theologica, Volume 1 (Part I)]]> 1870772 592 Thomas Aquinas 1602065535 Kevin 0 theology, to-read 4.04 1274 Summa Theologica, Volume 1 (Part I)
author: Thomas Aquinas
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1274
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/09/08
shelves: theology, to-read
review:

]]> Baltimore Catechism No. 1 878368 72 Plenary Councils of Baltimore 1905574312 Kevin 5 theology 4.20 1885 Baltimore Catechism No. 1
author: Plenary Councils of Baltimore
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1885
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/01/21
shelves: theology
review:
A great short summary of the Catholic Faith. It covers the Trinity, sin, the Sacraments, and analyzes the Ten Commandments. Should I ever have children, I'll be using this book, or an edition of it.
]]> <![CDATA[Institutes of the Christian Religion]]> 1155340 1104 John Calvin 1598561685 Kevin 0 to-read 4.42 1536 Institutes of the Christian Religion
author: John Calvin
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1536
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century]]> 86573 379 Ross E. Dunn 0520243854 Kevin 5 history 3.88 1987 The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century
author: Ross E. Dunn
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/12/29
shelves: history
review:
Ross Dunn presents an absolutely fascinating window into the Muslim world of the 14th century through a novel-esque retelling of Ibn Battuta's travel journals. While Ibn Battuta struck me as something of a jerk, his travels throughout the Muslim world were fascinating. Islam may have spread West by the sword, but it spread East by the trading-ship. The legal scholar from Western Africa follows trade routes from Morocco to the Middle East to India and possibly beyond, finally returning home to write his memoirs. It's a good read.
]]> If Protestantism is True 11599818
With clarity and tact, Rose synthesizes Church history with theology, making the complex subjects that divide Catholics and Protestants accessible. He covers ecumenical councils, the papacy, the canon of Scripture, the Protestant Reformers, the saints, sacraments, and many more. Personal anecdotes and true stories of Protestant friends who are wrestling with the Catholic Church's claims are interspersed throughout the book.]]> 180 Devin Rose Kevin 2 ----------
As a former Protestant and current Roman Catholic, this book intrigued me. I think Protestantism is a fairly serious collection of theological errors and that good arguments are needed to recall Protestants to the True Church.

The idea of the book is an interesting apologetic approach: rather than directly confronting Protestant errors, the author takes a page from the mathematicians and assumes that Protestant doctrines are, in fact, accurate. These doctrines could then be followed to their logical conclusion, and if found to contradict one another or reality, but rejected - a classic proof by contradiction.

Unfortunately, many of these proofs by contradiction formally fail. If you say A, B, and C are true, and I say that ~A, ~B, and ~C are true, then I should start any such contradiction attempting by assuming the truth of A, B, and C. Instead, the author assumes the truth of A, B, and ~C. When the contradiction is then reached, the Protestant could reasonably say the error could exist in ~C - a proposition he rejects.

One such example is when the author cites as his proposition A the rejection of authoritative, Reformation-era Church Councils by Protestants. He then takes widespread Protestant acceptance of a subset of the decrees of the early ecumenical councils as evidence of B: that Protestants accepted the teachings of these councils based on the authority of these councils. However, Protestants generally hold something more like C, that teachings of the early councils are accepted based on their accordance with Sacred Scripture. This assertion is perfectly compatible with rejecting the actual authority of the early councils. The author's conclusion, then, that Protestantism must accept an arbitrary point in history at which the Church's councils experienced a loss of authority is without weight.

In general, the author transfers a Catholic belief that he now holds to the Protestant argument, or shows something must be true that doesn't really bother Protestants: like that Luther and Calvin could have erred in their doctrines. Protestants don't hold to infallible teaching of anyone. The Reformers are not exempt.

However, in the chapters about the Protestant Canon of Scripture, the author begins to make coherent arguments. I have to give him minimal credit here, however - the arguments for a knowable and inerrant Protestant canon, especially the "it's obvious to any true Christian" one, are laughably flawed. The author reasonably points out that an inerrant Protestant canon is inconsistent with the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and its corresponding rejection of extra-Biblical canon-recognizing authorities such as the Synod of Rome. Further, if R. C. Sproul's "fallible canon of infallible books" is taken, all confidence in the doctrines of the faith must fall away. Any given book of the canon may flawed, and thus any given doctrine that finds its primary arguments from that book (or a set of flawed books) could be false. Further, infallible books may not be included in the fallible canon, and other important information may (or may not) be left out. The author does manage to show a contradiction between what necessarily follows from "Sola Scriptura" and the early Protestant purging of the Bible and the near-perfect confidence in the Protestant canon held by many Protestants. From this it then follows that Sola Scriptura may be true, but is useless.

Unfortunately for the reader, the author goes right back to his questionably intelligent arguments after his one (probably accidental) good point. He lists a series of recent errors (some of which have been corrected, like the SBC's stance on abortion) recently espoused by various Protestant sects such as the permissibility of abortion, contraception, divorce, homosexual acts, marriage redefinition, and women's ordination. Not deterred that the primary culprits are liberal denominations that more and more reject the authority of scripture itself, the author then states that Protestantism's truth must imply moral relativism: that these issues do not have timeless and objectively true answers, but change from generation to generation. This is sad ignorance of Protestant doctrine: no theologically-conservative (holds to the authority of Scripture) denomination would make such a claim. In fact, the Protestant would likely argue that current moral teachings reflect man's potentially fallible attempt to discover from Scripture the objective truth about moral questions. Thus, reversals and changes in doctrine would reflect poorly on the interpreters rather than the Scripture which is being interpreted. It seems this counter-argument may run afoul of the Protestant assertion of the perspicuity of Scripture, but that particular doctrine is interpreted differently, and in any case, the author makes no note of it.

The final few chapters of the book are devoted to common misconceptions about the Catholic Church and questions of interpretative authority and scripture. The author does better here, but intersperses his bright points with errors or exaggerations regarding Protestant doctrine.


]]> 4.04 2011 If Protestantism is True
author: Devin Rose
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2012/07/17
date added: 2013/12/07
shelves:
review:
Short review: The author tries to show contradictions between the logical conclusions of certain Protestant doctrines and either other Protestant doctrines, or what is reasonable to expect of God in communicating His truths regarding salvation. While the author does a good job of critiquing Protestant doctrines of Sola Scriptura and interpretative authority, many of his other arguments are fatally flawed. Typically, he either assumes that Protestants hold to some auxiliary point that they do not, or paints with too broad a brush: assuming a theologically-liberal Protestant belief and then applying it to all Protestants in the conclusion. There are far better arguments about Protestantism out there, this work's primary value is to demonstrate the necessity of careful and accurate research when critiquing another group's beliefs.
----------
As a former Protestant and current Roman Catholic, this book intrigued me. I think Protestantism is a fairly serious collection of theological errors and that good arguments are needed to recall Protestants to the True Church.

The idea of the book is an interesting apologetic approach: rather than directly confronting Protestant errors, the author takes a page from the mathematicians and assumes that Protestant doctrines are, in fact, accurate. These doctrines could then be followed to their logical conclusion, and if found to contradict one another or reality, but rejected - a classic proof by contradiction.

Unfortunately, many of these proofs by contradiction formally fail. If you say A, B, and C are true, and I say that ~A, ~B, and ~C are true, then I should start any such contradiction attempting by assuming the truth of A, B, and C. Instead, the author assumes the truth of A, B, and ~C. When the contradiction is then reached, the Protestant could reasonably say the error could exist in ~C - a proposition he rejects.

One such example is when the author cites as his proposition A the rejection of authoritative, Reformation-era Church Councils by Protestants. He then takes widespread Protestant acceptance of a subset of the decrees of the early ecumenical councils as evidence of B: that Protestants accepted the teachings of these councils based on the authority of these councils. However, Protestants generally hold something more like C, that teachings of the early councils are accepted based on their accordance with Sacred Scripture. This assertion is perfectly compatible with rejecting the actual authority of the early councils. The author's conclusion, then, that Protestantism must accept an arbitrary point in history at which the Church's councils experienced a loss of authority is without weight.

In general, the author transfers a Catholic belief that he now holds to the Protestant argument, or shows something must be true that doesn't really bother Protestants: like that Luther and Calvin could have erred in their doctrines. Protestants don't hold to infallible teaching of anyone. The Reformers are not exempt.

However, in the chapters about the Protestant Canon of Scripture, the author begins to make coherent arguments. I have to give him minimal credit here, however - the arguments for a knowable and inerrant Protestant canon, especially the "it's obvious to any true Christian" one, are laughably flawed. The author reasonably points out that an inerrant Protestant canon is inconsistent with the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and its corresponding rejection of extra-Biblical canon-recognizing authorities such as the Synod of Rome. Further, if R. C. Sproul's "fallible canon of infallible books" is taken, all confidence in the doctrines of the faith must fall away. Any given book of the canon may flawed, and thus any given doctrine that finds its primary arguments from that book (or a set of flawed books) could be false. Further, infallible books may not be included in the fallible canon, and other important information may (or may not) be left out. The author does manage to show a contradiction between what necessarily follows from "Sola Scriptura" and the early Protestant purging of the Bible and the near-perfect confidence in the Protestant canon held by many Protestants. From this it then follows that Sola Scriptura may be true, but is useless.

Unfortunately for the reader, the author goes right back to his questionably intelligent arguments after his one (probably accidental) good point. He lists a series of recent errors (some of which have been corrected, like the SBC's stance on abortion) recently espoused by various Protestant sects such as the permissibility of abortion, contraception, divorce, homosexual acts, marriage redefinition, and women's ordination. Not deterred that the primary culprits are liberal denominations that more and more reject the authority of scripture itself, the author then states that Protestantism's truth must imply moral relativism: that these issues do not have timeless and objectively true answers, but change from generation to generation. This is sad ignorance of Protestant doctrine: no theologically-conservative (holds to the authority of Scripture) denomination would make such a claim. In fact, the Protestant would likely argue that current moral teachings reflect man's potentially fallible attempt to discover from Scripture the objective truth about moral questions. Thus, reversals and changes in doctrine would reflect poorly on the interpreters rather than the Scripture which is being interpreted. It seems this counter-argument may run afoul of the Protestant assertion of the perspicuity of Scripture, but that particular doctrine is interpreted differently, and in any case, the author makes no note of it.

The final few chapters of the book are devoted to common misconceptions about the Catholic Church and questions of interpretative authority and scripture. The author does better here, but intersperses his bright points with errors or exaggerations regarding Protestant doctrine.



]]> Angels in Iron 2511852 304 Nicholas C. Prata 1889758566 Kevin 5 other, history 4.34 1997 Angels in Iron
author: Nicholas C. Prata
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2012/06/19
date added: 2013/12/03
shelves: other, history
review:
Angels in Iron is a novelization of the defense of the Island of Malta by the Knights of St. John against the Turkish forces. It tells an inspiring, exciting, and at time gut-wrenching tale of the knights' stand against overwhelming numbers. The author creates a convincing, if fictionalized, narrative of the major players on the Christian and Ottoman sides. Dragut, Piala, and Mustapha debate strategy and plan their next attacks, while Oliver Starkey and Grand Master La Valette discuss the defense of the five fortresses of Malta. This is a great story of faith and courage under fire. I highly recommend it.
]]> Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) 61179 288 Larry Niven 0575077026 Kevin 0 to-read 3.96 1970 Ringworld (Ringworld, #1)
author: Larry Niven
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/09/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> And Then There Were None 16299
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]> 264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 Kevin 0 currently-reading 4.28 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/09/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fathers of the Church: An Introduction to the First Christian Teachers]]> 521708 This expanded edition features full references and citations, a topical index, detailed bibliography, and ancient texts available in English for the first time in more than a century.
The Fathers of the Church is an excellent place to pass on those same teachings and traditions -- long established as an indispensable reference tool for clergy, seminarians, RCIA candidates, and lay Catholics who want to strive to live up to the "Faith of Our Fathers."]]> 289 Mike Aquilina 159276245X Kevin 5 history, theology 4.23 1976 The Fathers of the Church: An Introduction to the First Christian Teachers
author: Mike Aquilina
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1976
rating: 5
read at: 2013/09/10
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves: history, theology
review:
The Fathers of the Church is a good introduction to the Fathers of the Church. Written from a Catholic point of view, the author gives some contextual details about Fathers from the apostolic, ante-Nicene, Nicene, and post-Nicene eras, along with one to several excerpts from their works. In addition to giving a quick overview of what some of the fathers (and early Christian women) believed, this book does a great job helping to populate a Patristics reading list.
]]> <![CDATA[United States Catholic Catechism for Adults]]> 2932540 664 1574554506 Kevin 0 to-read 4.33 2006 United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
author: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/08/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking I Timothy 2:11-15 in Light of Ancient Evidence]]> 231137 250 Richard Clark Kroeger 0801052505 Kevin 1 3.98 1998 I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking I Timothy 2:11-15 in Light of Ancient Evidence
author: Richard Clark Kroeger
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1998
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2013/08/28
shelves:
review:
Dr. Kroeger presents an interesting argument that I Timothy 2:11ish should be seen as an attack on Gnostic heresies rather than any sort of limitation on women in Christianity. When he sticks to the verses at hand, he makes a fair argument, but resorts to assuming the consequent to make his points. He cannot accept Biblical complementarianism, therefore, it cannot *possibly* be that 'usurpation' would be a good description of female leadership in the church. Rebuttals to it have been thorough. Additionally, what could have been an interesting and in-depth study of a few verses was tarnished by an out-of-context and shallow accompanying analysis of various other New Testament verses in an attempt to ultimately argue for clerical egalitarianism and women's ordination. The author touts Galatians 3:28 (sans context, of course) and conveniently ignores Ephesians 5, Paul's words to Timothy on the Bishops, and the entirety of Christian Tradition.
]]> <![CDATA[The Conscience of a Conservative (The James Madison Library in American Politics)]]> 244909 The Conscience of a Conservative. Written at the height of the Cold War and in the wake of America's greatest experiment with big government, the New Deal, Goldwater's message was not only remarkable, but radical. He argued for the value and importance of conservative principles--freedom, foremost among them--in contemporary political life. Using the principles he espoused in this concise but powerful book, Goldwater fundamentally altered the political landscape of his day--and ours.]]> 176 Barry M. Goldwater 0691131171 Kevin 4 political-theory
Barry Goldwater puts his philosophy of government in very simple, if not rigorously defined, terms - liberty should be maximized insofar as the preservation of social order allows. He then argues that the balance between order and liberty has tipped entirely in favor of order. He criticizes numerous government programs, and politicians who think first about the perceived necessity of a new program before determining that such a program is a legitimate function of government.

While his economic theory is pretty standard libertarianism, if clearly argued and well thought-out, his foreign policy is a different animal entirely. Mr. Goldwater criticizes the wasteful spending on various unfriendly regimes, noting that such expenditures often allow troubled Communist governments to temporarily fix economic problems and fund the suppression of unrest. He marks out a rather cold and perhaps dangerous policy of confrontation. I agree that when facing an enemy bent on defeating you, you must aim for victory yourself. Refusing to recognize oppressive foreign governments as legitimate also seems to make sense in the context of the Cold War. However, his recommendation that the United States develop clean, tactical nuclear warheads for deployment in limited wars against the Soviet Union seems ill-advised. He sets up a dichotomy, where the Soviet Union can either risk global nuclear destruction or local nuclear defeat at the hands of America's superior tactical nuclear weaponry. However, this ignores the possibility that the Soviets would retaliate to the use of tactical nuclear weapons not with widespread strategic nuclear force, but with the heavy-handed deployment of the USSR's quite formidable strategic arsenal in a tactical setting. A long-range piece of artillery works just fine pointed at a nearby enemy - there is no reason to expect that a ballistic missile capable of striking New York would be any less capable of striking an American Air Force base near Hungary. Rather than forcing the Soviets to back down, the threatened use of tactical nuclear weapons seems more likely to end in a local atomic bloodbath than local victory.

I think Goldwater errs in focusing his military strategy on a tactical nuclear weapons platform. He seems to forget the praise he layered on the productive forces of free enterprise earlier in the book, and assumes that a free and unfettered American economy could not produce more conventional "capital goods" of war to counter the Soviet manpower advantage. Hindsight is 20/20, but we saw exactly that happen. The American F-4 Phantom proved to be immensely superior to the Soviet MiGs of the Vietnam era, and the F-15 and F-14 dominated the 1970s airspace.]]> 3.79 1960 The Conscience of a Conservative (The James Madison Library in American Politics)
author: Barry M. Goldwater
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at: 2012/02/27
date added: 2013/08/28
shelves: political-theory
review:
Though wikipedia informs me that Mr. Goldwater was an Episcopalian, the first thing that struck me about his book was how *Catholic* some of his logic was. He references subsidiarity, talks about natural law, and makes the case for Conservatism as serving not only the material but spiritual needs of a man.

Barry Goldwater puts his philosophy of government in very simple, if not rigorously defined, terms - liberty should be maximized insofar as the preservation of social order allows. He then argues that the balance between order and liberty has tipped entirely in favor of order. He criticizes numerous government programs, and politicians who think first about the perceived necessity of a new program before determining that such a program is a legitimate function of government.

While his economic theory is pretty standard libertarianism, if clearly argued and well thought-out, his foreign policy is a different animal entirely. Mr. Goldwater criticizes the wasteful spending on various unfriendly regimes, noting that such expenditures often allow troubled Communist governments to temporarily fix economic problems and fund the suppression of unrest. He marks out a rather cold and perhaps dangerous policy of confrontation. I agree that when facing an enemy bent on defeating you, you must aim for victory yourself. Refusing to recognize oppressive foreign governments as legitimate also seems to make sense in the context of the Cold War. However, his recommendation that the United States develop clean, tactical nuclear warheads for deployment in limited wars against the Soviet Union seems ill-advised. He sets up a dichotomy, where the Soviet Union can either risk global nuclear destruction or local nuclear defeat at the hands of America's superior tactical nuclear weaponry. However, this ignores the possibility that the Soviets would retaliate to the use of tactical nuclear weapons not with widespread strategic nuclear force, but with the heavy-handed deployment of the USSR's quite formidable strategic arsenal in a tactical setting. A long-range piece of artillery works just fine pointed at a nearby enemy - there is no reason to expect that a ballistic missile capable of striking New York would be any less capable of striking an American Air Force base near Hungary. Rather than forcing the Soviets to back down, the threatened use of tactical nuclear weapons seems more likely to end in a local atomic bloodbath than local victory.

I think Goldwater errs in focusing his military strategy on a tactical nuclear weapons platform. He seems to forget the praise he layered on the productive forces of free enterprise earlier in the book, and assumes that a free and unfettered American economy could not produce more conventional "capital goods" of war to counter the Soviet manpower advantage. Hindsight is 20/20, but we saw exactly that happen. The American F-4 Phantom proved to be immensely superior to the Soviet MiGs of the Vietnam era, and the F-15 and F-14 dominated the 1970s airspace.
]]> <![CDATA[Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything]]> 1202
These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives -- how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they set out to explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of obfuscation, complication, and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and -- if the right questions are asked -- is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.
(front flap)]]> 268 Steven D. Levitt 0061234001 Kevin 2 other 4.01 2005 Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
author: Steven D. Levitt
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at: 2012/09/25
date added: 2013/08/28
shelves: other
review:
Levitt and Dubner present an admittedly disjointed collection of analyses of various questions. I thought the book was short on rigor and long on sensationalism, and I've read convincing rebuttals of a few of their analyses. One of their major points - and a good one to remember - is that one must always remember that experts may not always act in your best interests, when their incentives don't happen to line up that way. Here I've got to say that Levitt and Dubner are incentivized to sell books, not present truths.
]]> <![CDATA[Islam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles)]]> 27306
Islam: A Short History begins with the flight of Muhammad and his family from Medina in the seventh century and the subsequent founding of the first mosques. It recounts the origins of the split between Shii and Sunni Muslims, and the emergence of Sufi mysticism; the spread of Islam throughout North Africa, the Levant, and Asia; the shattering effect on the Muslim world of the Crusades; the flowering of imperial Islam in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries into the world's greatest and most sophisticated power; and the origins and impact of revolutionary Islam. It concludes with an assessment of Islam today and its challenges.

With this brilliant book, Karen Armstrong issues a forceful challenge to those who hold the view that the West and Islam are civilizations set on a collision course. It is also a model of authority, elegance, and economy.]]> 230 Karen Armstrong 081296618X Kevin 2
But first, the good: With a few minor exceptions, the first two-thirds of the book is a good history of the spread of Islam, and a reasonably engaging read. Some other reviews have criticized the readability of the post-Rashidun sections, but for a history text, it is excellent.

Unfortunately, the book makes unfounded and unsourced assertions, and is rather clearly biased. Armstrong's liberal Christian heresies are interjected here and there, which is rather annoying. The worst part, however, is the repeated assertion that Islamic fundamentalism is more characteristically fundamentalist than Islamic, and that (p149) "equally prevalent and violent fundamentalisms of other faiths" are somehow the same. Sorry, but I can't remember the last time fundamentalist Buddhists got a whole state to themselves (Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.) or Christian fundamentalists killed a few thousand civilians. Armstrong likes to quote the Fall of Jerusalem in 1099A.D. as Crusader brutality and, hilariously, the "first experience of the West" for Islam. Spain, Southern France, Sicily, and parts of Italy, which had been conquered or raided by Muslims centuries before, would like a word. She likes to talk about the slaughter at Jerusalem, but never mentions the slaughter at Constantinople. The truth is, that when cities fall without a surrender agreement, there is no organized end to the fighting, and massive numbers of civilians die, whether the attacker is Christian or Turk. It gets funny at times. In her attempts to portray Europe as a backward backwater, she brushes off the *88 year* occupation of Jerusalem and multi-century Crusader presence in the Holy Land as brief and unimportant. Aside from the mountain of evidence demonstrating at least the parity and probably the technological superiority of Medieval Europe over the Dar al-Islam, how could a tiny band of backward soldiers hold off the might of Islam, camped out in their 3rd holiest site, for nearly a century?

I'd give the book a pass. I'd suggest [Placeholder] instead.]]> 4.07 2000 Islam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles)
author: Karen Armstrong
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 2013/04/29
date added: 2013/08/28
shelves:
review:
The downfall of what could be an otherwise good history of Islam is Karen Armstrong's attempt to whitewash history. She repeatedly distorts history and makes apology for Muslim violence throughout the centuries, while blaming Christianity (no stranger to violence) for introducing violence to Islam.

But first, the good: With a few minor exceptions, the first two-thirds of the book is a good history of the spread of Islam, and a reasonably engaging read. Some other reviews have criticized the readability of the post-Rashidun sections, but for a history text, it is excellent.

Unfortunately, the book makes unfounded and unsourced assertions, and is rather clearly biased. Armstrong's liberal Christian heresies are interjected here and there, which is rather annoying. The worst part, however, is the repeated assertion that Islamic fundamentalism is more characteristically fundamentalist than Islamic, and that (p149) "equally prevalent and violent fundamentalisms of other faiths" are somehow the same. Sorry, but I can't remember the last time fundamentalist Buddhists got a whole state to themselves (Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.) or Christian fundamentalists killed a few thousand civilians. Armstrong likes to quote the Fall of Jerusalem in 1099A.D. as Crusader brutality and, hilariously, the "first experience of the West" for Islam. Spain, Southern France, Sicily, and parts of Italy, which had been conquered or raided by Muslims centuries before, would like a word. She likes to talk about the slaughter at Jerusalem, but never mentions the slaughter at Constantinople. The truth is, that when cities fall without a surrender agreement, there is no organized end to the fighting, and massive numbers of civilians die, whether the attacker is Christian or Turk. It gets funny at times. In her attempts to portray Europe as a backward backwater, she brushes off the *88 year* occupation of Jerusalem and multi-century Crusader presence in the Holy Land as brief and unimportant. Aside from the mountain of evidence demonstrating at least the parity and probably the technological superiority of Medieval Europe over the Dar al-Islam, how could a tiny band of backward soldiers hold off the might of Islam, camped out in their 3rd holiest site, for nearly a century?

I'd give the book a pass. I'd suggest [Placeholder] instead.
]]> <![CDATA[Theological Highlights of Vatican II]]> 8702830 288 Pope Benedict XVI 080914610X Kevin 3 history
However, if you want any details about the major controversies or issues of Vatican II, the debate over religious liberty, the liturgy, divine revelation, etc. look elsewhere. Fr. Ratzinger merely summarizes these issues in the most basic way. Further, Catholics of a more traditional bent may be annoyed with the young priest, who seems to eagerly embrace all sorts of theologically revisionist theories, and give credence to anything but the tradition of the Church. I kind of think that Cardinal Ratzinger or Benedict XVI, Bishop Emeritus of Rome, would be embarrassed by some of these words.]]> 4.33 2009 Theological Highlights of Vatican II
author: Pope Benedict XVI
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2013/08/27
date added: 2013/08/28
shelves: history
review:
Joseph Ratzinger, later a Cardinal, head of the CDF, and eventually Pope Benedict XVI, wrote this narrative of Vatican II. The book is short (a compilation of four pamphlets) and gives an overview of what happened when, and what the major controversies were. As a historical, eyewitness account of the Vatican Council II, it was a worthwhile book.

However, if you want any details about the major controversies or issues of Vatican II, the debate over religious liberty, the liturgy, divine revelation, etc. look elsewhere. Fr. Ratzinger merely summarizes these issues in the most basic way. Further, Catholics of a more traditional bent may be annoyed with the young priest, who seems to eagerly embrace all sorts of theologically revisionist theories, and give credence to anything but the tradition of the Church. I kind of think that Cardinal Ratzinger or Benedict XVI, Bishop Emeritus of Rome, would be embarrassed by some of these words.
]]> <![CDATA[Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality]]> 1967915 Book by Kippley, John F. 356 John F. Kippley 0960103694 Kevin 0 currently-reading 4.31 1991 Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality
author: John F. Kippley
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1991
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/03/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Great Heresies 5922 161 Hilaire Belloc Kevin 4 theology, history
The other point of interest for me was the connection between the rise of Islam, the Protestant Reformation, and the rise of modernist errors. The connection is not perfect, however. Modernism arose by the completion of Protestant questioning and rejection of central authority, and the Protestant Reformation survived in nations with weakened central governments - where power was split between nobles and kings, and the nobles could use enriching (Protestantism allowed them to cease ecclesial property) heresy to fight the kings. Northern Germany went Protestant because the Ottoman-weakened Holy Roman Empire could not put down the nobles from Vienna. However, Protestantism, such as it was, would have still arisen in England in all likelihood, since England had a weakened central government unconnected with Muslim invasions. Additionally, there was the small matter of Henry VIII's marital redefinitions...

A final note of annoyance was Hilaire Belloc's ignorance of economics. I will allow him his opposition to capitalism, but to assume that communism only fails at eradicating poverty due to the tyranny of it's administrators is to be completely ignorant of that great information aggregating and distributing network known as the price system.]]> 4.21 1938 The Great Heresies
author: Hilaire Belloc
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at: 2013/03/29
date added: 2013/03/30
shelves: theology, history
review:
Hilaire Belloc writes on what he considers the five important heresies that the Catholic Church has faced. To me, the most interesting one was the classification of Islam as a heresy of Christianity. It does fit his definition to an extent, and Belloc does acknowledge it is a different case from all other heresies, as it arose and exists completely outside the Church. I had always considered Islam to be a false religion growing on the basis on Judaism, but Mr. Belloc does make some compelling points, especially regarding Mary. If Islam was derived from Judaism, its veneration of the Virgin is unexplained. While it does seem simpler to assume that the single-person God, absence of Christian sacraments, and man-only Jesus religion of Islam came from Judaism, I don't know how much influence the Jews had in the area at the time. I do know there was a substantial Christian presence, and any Arian heretics still lingering would pass on a Christianity that could easily morph into Islam.

The other point of interest for me was the connection between the rise of Islam, the Protestant Reformation, and the rise of modernist errors. The connection is not perfect, however. Modernism arose by the completion of Protestant questioning and rejection of central authority, and the Protestant Reformation survived in nations with weakened central governments - where power was split between nobles and kings, and the nobles could use enriching (Protestantism allowed them to cease ecclesial property) heresy to fight the kings. Northern Germany went Protestant because the Ottoman-weakened Holy Roman Empire could not put down the nobles from Vienna. However, Protestantism, such as it was, would have still arisen in England in all likelihood, since England had a weakened central government unconnected with Muslim invasions. Additionally, there was the small matter of Henry VIII's marital redefinitions...

A final note of annoyance was Hilaire Belloc's ignorance of economics. I will allow him his opposition to capitalism, but to assume that communism only fails at eradicating poverty due to the tyranny of it's administrators is to be completely ignorant of that great information aggregating and distributing network known as the price system.
]]> The Road to Serfdom 299215 The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a century. Originally published in England in the spring of 1944when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program�The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would inevitably lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

First published by the University of Chicago Press on September 18, 1944, The Road to Serfdom garnered immediate attention from the public, politicians, and scholars alike. The first printing of 2,000 copies was exhausted instantly, and within six months more than 30,000 were sold. In April of 1945, Reader's Digest published a condensed version of the book, and soon thereafter the Book-of-the-Month Club distributed this condensation to more than 600,000 readers. A perennial best-seller, the book has sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States, not including the British edition or the nearly twenty translations into such languages as German, French, Dutch, Swedish, and Japanese, and not to mention the many underground editions produced in Eastern Europe before the fall of the iron curtain.

After thirty-two printings in the United States, The Road to Serfdom has established itself alongside the works of Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, and George Orwell for its timeless meditation on the relation between individual liberty and government authority. This fiftieth anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Milton Friedman, commemorates the enduring influence of The Road to Serfdom on the ever-changing political and social climates of the twentieth century, from the rise of socialism after World War II to the Reagan and Thatcher "revolutions" in the 1980s and the transitions in Eastern Europe from communism to capitalism in the 1990s.

F. A. Hayek (1899-1992), recipient of the Medal of Freedom in 1991 and co-winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1974, was a pioneer in monetary theory and the principal proponent of libertarianism in the twentieth century.

On the first American edition of The Road to Serfdom:
"One of the most important books of our generation. . . . It restates for our time the issue between liberty and authority with the power and rigor of reasoning with which John Stuart Mill stated the issue for his own generation in his great essay On Liberty. . . . It is an arresting call to all well-intentioned planners and socialists, to all those who are sincere democrats and liberals at heart to stop, look and listen."Henry Hazlitt, New York Times Book Review, September 1944

"In the negative part of Professor Hayek's thesis there is a great deal of truth. It cannot be said too oftenat any rate, it is not being said nearly often enoughthat collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the Spanish Inquisitors never dreamt of."George Orwell, Collected Essays]]> 274 Friedrich A. Hayek 0226320618 Kevin 0 to-read 4.14 1944 The Road to Serfdom
author: Friedrich A. Hayek
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1944
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History]]> 11887020
A native Texan who learned to shoot on childhood hunting trips with his father, Kyle was a champion saddle-bronc rider prior to joining the Navy. After 9/11, he was thrust onto the front lines of the War on Terror, and soon found his calling as a world-class sniper who performed best under fire. He recorded a personal-record 2,100-yard kill shot outside Baghdad; in Fallujah, Kyle braved heavy fire to rescue a group of Marines trapped on a street; in Ramadi, he stared down insurgents with his pistol in close combat. Kyle talks honestly about the pain of warof twice being shot and experiencing the tragic deaths of two close friends.

American Sniper also honors Kyles fellow warriors, who raised hell on and off the battlefield. And in moving first-person accounts throughout, Kyles wife, Taya, speaks openly about the strains of war on their marriage and children, as well as on Chris.

Adrenaline-charged and deeply personal, American Sniper is a thrilling eyewitness account of war that only one man could tell.]]> 502 Chris Kyle 0062107062 Kevin 3 other, history 4.00 2012 American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History
author: Chris Kyle
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2013/02/10
date added: 2013/02/14
shelves: other, history
review:
Chris Kyle's autobiography is an interesting look inside the SEALs. As something of a gun nut, I enjoyed the discussion of firearms and equipment. However, his apparent inability to recognize the right to life and human dignity of Iraqis was morally frustrating.
]]> The Conscience of a Liberal 1169429 296 Paul Krugman 0393060691 Kevin 2
As to the content of his argument, Dr. Krugman presents a fairly straightforward position that completely subjugates the interests of liberty to equality of outcome. This "more equal society" is not formed by equality before the law, or (God forbid), equality before the tax code. It is quite simply formed by a tax war on wealth - he praises top marginal income tax rates of 75 and 91 percent. Time and again, he puzzles over the unwillingness of the poor to simply demand that the wealth of the rich be redistributed throughout society by government coercion. I don't really think he has any conception of individual property rights or limited government. He presents a sort of "the majority owns the whole" approach.

The book's only saving grace - the only reason it has two stars - is chapter 11. It's much better written than the rest of the book, and manages to make a good argument, though one I happen to disagree with.]]> 3.97 2007 The Conscience of a Liberal
author: Paul Krugman
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2012/03/05
date added: 2013/02/14
shelves:
review:
Paul Krugman is completely blind in one eye. I was hoping for an intellectual defense of modern liberalism/progressivism. What I got was a rant against the vast right-wing conspiracy, complete with either explicit or implicit accusations of racism in every chapter. While double-standards are no strange thing to the political right, Dr. Krugman takes it to a whole new level. The right is an unholy alliance of diverse and conflicting interests (neoconservatives, big-business interests, religious conservatives, etc), but no word on the left (radical feminists, the anti-war party, the interventionist war party, welfare-statists, unions, environmentalists, etc). The right has vast organizational structure, but the left is definitely a grass-roots, true-blue American movement, and it goes on.

As to the content of his argument, Dr. Krugman presents a fairly straightforward position that completely subjugates the interests of liberty to equality of outcome. This "more equal society" is not formed by equality before the law, or (God forbid), equality before the tax code. It is quite simply formed by a tax war on wealth - he praises top marginal income tax rates of 75 and 91 percent. Time and again, he puzzles over the unwillingness of the poor to simply demand that the wealth of the rich be redistributed throughout society by government coercion. I don't really think he has any conception of individual property rights or limited government. He presents a sort of "the majority owns the whole" approach.

The book's only saving grace - the only reason it has two stars - is chapter 11. It's much better written than the rest of the book, and manages to make a good argument, though one I happen to disagree with.
]]> <![CDATA[Convict Conditioning: How to Bust Free of All Weakness Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme Survival Strength]]> 7305111 320 Paul Wade 0938045768 Kevin 0 to-read 4.17 2010 Convict Conditioning: How to Bust Free of All Weakness Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme Survival Strength
author: Paul Wade
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/02/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma]]> 264465 Ready Winter 2009 Recognized as the greatest summary of Catholic dogma ever put between two covers. A one-volume encyclopedia of Catholic doctrines. Tells exactly what the Church teaches on any particular topic. Tells when the pronouncement was made and gives the sources from Scripture, Church Councils, Papal statements and the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. Essential for priests, seminarians, parents and teachers. Easily one of our most important books. 560 pgs, PB]]> 562 Ludwig Ott 0895550091 Kevin 5 theology
I wouldn't quite recommend this for newcomers to the Catholic faith, but for more informed Catholics seeking to expand their knowledge.]]> 4.49 1952 Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma
author: Ludwig Ott
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.49
book published: 1952
rating: 5
read at: 2012/12/23
date added: 2013/02/14
shelves: theology
review:
Excellent and in-depth primer of Catholic dogma. It is not comprehensive, but covers the core essentials well - in 500-odd pages. It took me 3 attempts to get through it, but is worth the effort. The only downside are the occasional untranslated passages of Latin.

I wouldn't quite recommend this for newcomers to the Catholic faith, but for more informed Catholics seeking to expand their knowledge.
]]> The Law 1609224 61 Fr辿d辿ric Bastiat 1933550147 Kevin 4 political-theory
Questions of taxation, minarchy vs. anarchy, and voluntary vs mandatory defense unions are left as exercises to the reader.]]> 4.34 1849 The Law
author: Fr辿d辿ric Bastiat
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1849
rating: 4
read at: 2011/12/15
date added: 2013/02/14
shelves: political-theory
review:
Bastiat makes a brief and very concise argument for government limited to protecting life, liberty, and property. Anything else, he argues, constitutes a use of force that could not be morally used by individuals, and thus could not be used by a collection of individuals (government). This theory, for better or for worse, assumes that the state is an artificial rather than natural institution.

Questions of taxation, minarchy vs. anarchy, and voluntary vs mandatory defense unions are left as exercises to the reader.
]]> <![CDATA[Human Action: A Treatise on Economics]]> 81912 Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, Mises explains complex market phenomena as "the outcomes of countless conscious, purposive actions, choices, and preferences of individuals, each of whom was trying as best as he or she could under the circumstances to attain various wants and ends and to avoid undesired consequences." It is individual choices in response to personal subjective value judgments that ultimately determine market phenomenasupply and demand, prices, the pattern of production, and even profits and losses. Although governments may presume to set "prices," it is individuals who, by their actions and choices through competitive bidding for money, products, and services, actually determine "prices". Thus, Mises presents economicsnot as a study of material goods, services, and productsbut as a study of human actions. He sees the science of human action, praxeology, as a science of reason and logic, which recognizes a regularity in the sequence and interrelationships among market phenomena. Mises defends the methodology of praxeology against the criticisms of Marxists, socialists, positivists, and mathematical statisticians.

Mises attributes the tremendous technological progress and the consequent increase in wealth and general welfare in the last two centuries to the introduction of liberal government policies based on free-market economic teachings, creating an economic and political environment which permits individuals to pursue their respective goals in freedom and peace. Mises also explains the futility and counter-productiveness of government attempts to regulate, control, and equalize all people's circumstances: "Men are born unequal and ... it is precisely their inequality that generates social cooperation and civilization."

Ludwig von Mises (1881�1973)was the leading spokesman of the Austrian School of Economics throughout most of the twentieth century. He earned his doctorate in law and economics from the University of Vienna in 1906. In 1926, Mises founded the Austrian Institute for Business Cycle Research. From 1909 to 1934, he was an economist for the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. Before the Anschluss, in 1934 Mises left for Geneva, where he was a professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies until 1940, when he emigrated to New York City. From 1948 to 1969, he was a visiting professor at New York University.

Bettina Bien Greavesis a former resident scholar, trustee, and longtime staff member of the Foundation for Economic Education. Shehas written and lectured extensively on topics of free market economics. Her articles have appeared in such journals as Human Events, Reason, and The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty. A student of Mises, Greaves has become an expert on his work in particular and that of the Austrian School of economics in general. She has translated several Mises monographs, compiled an annotated bibliography of his work, and edited collections of papers by Mises and other members of the Austrian School.]]> 924 Ludwig von Mises 0809297434 Kevin 0 to-read 4.32 1940 Human Action: A Treatise on Economics
author: Ludwig von Mises
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1940
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/11/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1)]]> 37442 When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

]]> 406 Gregory Maguire 0060987103 Kevin 0 to-read 3.52 1995 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1)
author: Gregory Maguire
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/11/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Fathers 3446739
The Fathers of the Church exhorted believers in the face of persecution while fighting heresies and misunderstandings. They were theologians and philosophers, orators and pastors, leaders and problem solvers, martyrs and heroes.
Pope Benedict carefully explains the stories of their rich history and the vital role each one played in not only preserving the Church at the time, but anchoring the Church of today as well as the future.

Bring your faith to life with the spark of history as told by the Pope himself. Gain a fuller understanding of what the Church teaches and why through the critical efforts and experiences of our early Church fathers.

Saint Clement, Bishop of Rome . . . Saint Ignatius of Antioch . . . Origen of Alexandria . . . Saint John Chrysostom . . .Saint Basil...Saint Gregory Nazianzus...St. Maximus of Turin...and more.

These illustrious Church Fathers are the first and second generations of the Church following the Apostles. It is upon their backs that the Church's journey through history is established and solidified.

By defending the newborn Christianity to the point of death and explaining the content of the Faith in a language understandable to the masses, the Apostolic Fathers created a timeless anchor of faith that extends through the challenges of today.]]> 201 Pope Benedict XVI 1592764401 Kevin 0 to-read 4.31 2008 The Fathers
author: Pope Benedict XVI
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/11/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection]]> 9488716
Benedict XVI presents this challenge in his new book, Jesus of Nazareth: From His Transfiguration Through His Death and Resurrection, the sequel volume to Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration.

Why was Jesus rejected by the religious leaders of his day? Who was responsible for his death? Did he establish a Church to carry on his work? How did Jesus view his suffering and death? How should we? And, most importantly, did Jesus really rise from the dead and what does his resurrection mean? The story of Jesus raises these and other crucial questions.

Benedict brings to his study the vast learning of a brilliant scholar, the passionate searching of a great mind, and the deep compassion of a pastor's heart. In the end, he dares readers to grapple with the meaning of Jesus' life, teaching, death, and resurrection. Jesus of Nazareth: From His Transfiguration Through His Death and Resurrection challenges both believers and unbelievers to decide who Jesus of Nazareth is and what he means for them.]]> 384 Pope Benedict XVI 1586175009 Kevin 0 to-read 4.61 2011 Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection
author: Pope Benedict XVI
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Th辿r竪se of Lisieux]]> 754771 306 Th辿r竪se of Lisieux 0935216588 Kevin 0 to-read 4.41 1898 Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Th辿r竪se of Lisieux
author: Th辿r竪se of Lisieux
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1898
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/11/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism]]> 68538 182 Kimberly Hahn Kevin 5 sola fide, and eventually reject sola Scriptura and accept the Real Presence. Formerly an ardent anti-Catholic, Scott comes to realize that he holds doctrines - ones he perhaps thought he was alone in holding - that were unique to the Catholic Church. Having just finished Chesterton's Orthodoxy, I can't help but note the parallels: Both Scott and G. K. work out some truths on their own, and slowly and independently arrive at Catholic truths, before being shocked to discover that they are indeed Catholic truths. Scott and Kimberly take turns telling their story, relating their painful and joyous journey to the Church. Their mix of bare emotional struggle and excellent apologetics makes for a powerful, compelling, and at times difficult read.

A couple of interesting take-aways for me: Dr. Hahn hits the nail on the head when he says a major problem in Catholic practice is the lack of Bible studies, enthusiastic singing, and preaching. As a revert to Catholicism, these are lacks that I see too, and can't quite explain them fully. I think we've gotten somewhat lax and superficial in handing on the faith, teaching parts and pieces rather than a Gospel whole. Second, the trails undergone by the Hahn family after Scott's conversion but before Kimberly's conversion give me something to think about for any future relationships. Most of my social group is Protestant (though that may be slowly changing) and out of our social groups do we look for or find a spouse (at least typically). Religious and devout disunity is really not something I would want for my children, so that is something serious to consider.

As a Grove City alumni, I have to say that the Hahn's make a very stereotypical Grover-couple. I think 'adorkable' is the proper term.

Finally, I'd like to deduct half or maybe a quarter of a star because the book is absolutely riddled with typographical errors, but I don't think it's worth a full star, especially given the rest of the book.]]> 4.38 1993 Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism
author: Kimberly Hahn
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2012/11/22
date added: 2012/11/22
shelves:
review:
Rome Sweet Home is the powerful testimony of Scott and Kimberly Hahn's conversion from Presbyterianism to the Catholic Church. Scott Hahn was a theology student at Grove City College (!) whose study of Scripture, especially covenantal theology, caused him to reject the Protestant doctrine of sola fide, and eventually reject sola Scriptura and accept the Real Presence. Formerly an ardent anti-Catholic, Scott comes to realize that he holds doctrines - ones he perhaps thought he was alone in holding - that were unique to the Catholic Church. Having just finished Chesterton's Orthodoxy, I can't help but note the parallels: Both Scott and G. K. work out some truths on their own, and slowly and independently arrive at Catholic truths, before being shocked to discover that they are indeed Catholic truths. Scott and Kimberly take turns telling their story, relating their painful and joyous journey to the Church. Their mix of bare emotional struggle and excellent apologetics makes for a powerful, compelling, and at times difficult read.

A couple of interesting take-aways for me: Dr. Hahn hits the nail on the head when he says a major problem in Catholic practice is the lack of Bible studies, enthusiastic singing, and preaching. As a revert to Catholicism, these are lacks that I see too, and can't quite explain them fully. I think we've gotten somewhat lax and superficial in handing on the faith, teaching parts and pieces rather than a Gospel whole. Second, the trails undergone by the Hahn family after Scott's conversion but before Kimberly's conversion give me something to think about for any future relationships. Most of my social group is Protestant (though that may be slowly changing) and out of our social groups do we look for or find a spouse (at least typically). Religious and devout disunity is really not something I would want for my children, so that is something serious to consider.

As a Grove City alumni, I have to say that the Hahn's make a very stereotypical Grover-couple. I think 'adorkable' is the proper term.

Finally, I'd like to deduct half or maybe a quarter of a star because the book is absolutely riddled with typographical errors, but I don't think it's worth a full star, especially given the rest of the book.
]]> Orthodoxy 87665 168 G.K. Chesterton 160096527X Kevin 5 other 4.17 Orthodoxy
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2012/11/21
date added: 2012/11/22
shelves: other
review:
I may have partially succeeded this time, but I really, really, really need to start reading Chesterton in a less scientific manner. If you read his writings, especially Orthodoxy and Heretics as logical apologetics, he'll drive you (or at least me) up a wall and across the ceiling. A lot of his analogies make good sense, despite being factually wrong. If you take this writing as an attempt to communicate supernatural relationships by any means necessary, it's a wonderful explanation of why G. K. Chesterton thinks the Catholic faith makes a unique kind of sense.
]]> <![CDATA[1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created]]> 9862761
More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed radically different suites of plants and animals. When Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas, he ended that separation at a stroke. Driven by the economic goal of establishing trade with China, he accidentally set off an ecological convulsion as European vessels carried thousands of species to new homes across the oceans.

The Columbian Exchange, as researchers call it, is the reason there are tomatoes in Italy, oranges in Florida, chocolates in Switzerland, and chili peppers in Thailand. More important, creatures the colonists knew nothing about hitched along for the ride. Earthworms, mosquitoes, and cockroaches; honeybees, dandelions, and African grasses; bacteria, fungi, and viruses; rats of every descriptionall of them rushed like eager tourists into lands that had never seen their like before, changing lives and landscapes across the planet.

Eight decades after Columbus, a Spaniard named Legazpi succeeded where Columbus had failed. He sailed west to establish continual trade with China, then the richest, most powerful country in the world. In Manila, a city Legazpi founded, silver from the Americas, mined by African and Indian slaves, was sold to Asians in return for silk for Europeans. It was the first time that goods and people from every corner of the globe were connected in a single worldwide exchange. Much as Columbus created a new world biologically, Legazpi and the Spanish empire he served created a new world economically.

As Charles C. Mann shows, the Columbian Exchange underlies much of subsequent human history. Presenting the latest research by ecologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, Mann shows how the creation of this worldwide network of ecological and economic exchange fostered the rise of Europe, devastated imperial China, convulsed Africa, and for two centuries made Mexico Citywhere Asia, Europe, and the new frontier of the Americas dynamically interactedthe center of the world. In such encounters, he uncovers the germ of todays fiercest political disputes, from immigration to trade policy to culture wars.

In 1493, Charles Mann gives us an eye-opening scientific interpretation of our past, unequaled in its authority and fascination]]> 557 Charles C. Mann 0307265722 Kevin 0 to-read 4.12 2011 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
author: Charles C. Mann
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/11/07
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]]> <![CDATA[1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus]]> 39020 In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology, Charles C. Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.

Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called mans first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.

]]> 563 Charles C. Mann 1400032059 Kevin 0 to-read 4.05 2005 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
author: Charles C. Mann
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/11/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Serving Country and Community: Who Benefits from National Service?]]> 7925720
Many decades, billions of dollars, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers after the creation of the first national service programs, it remains unclear who benefits from service, under what conditions these programs work best, and how exactly these service efforts contribute to the strengthening of communities. Serving Country and Community answers each of these questions through an in-depth study of how service shapes the lives of young people and a careful analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these programs. Based on years of field work and data collection, Serving Country and Community provides an in-depth examination of the aims and effects of national service and, in the process, opens up a conversation about what works and what needs reform in national service today.]]> 320 Peter Frumkin 0674046781 Kevin 4 other 3.67 2010 Serving Country and Community: Who Benefits from National Service?
author: Peter Frumkin
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2012/08/12
date added: 2012/08/13
shelves: other
review:
Peter Frumkin presents a rather boring but well-researched and fair account of American national service programs, focusing primarily on VISTA and AmeriCorp. I did appreciate that the author attempted to give an account of oppositions to such programs. I was annoyed that he cited the labour theory of value in one section to try to evaluate the "good done" by national service programs. Saying that such-and-such a project took X hours, and you typically pay $Y/hr for that sort of work means that $XY value was created is rather problematic. That effort has to be directed to projects that people *would* actually pay that amount for that project to create that amount of value.
]]> <![CDATA[Jesus: The Only Way to God: Must You Hear The Gospel To Be Saved?]]> 7632263 128 John Piper 0801072638 Kevin 3 theology 1) The entire human race has sinned and offended God.
2) The punishment for such sin is eternal.
3) Man cannot atone for this sin by his own means.
4) By grace through faith in Christ, man can be saved from eternal punishment.
5) Apart from the grace of Christ, there is no satisfaction for man's sin.
6) Man can come to the grace of Christ by hearing the Gospel.
7) Without being preached to, a man cannot come to the grace of Christ.
Piper presents a mostly convincing argument for the first six points, but fails to ever prove point #7, and indeed assumes its validity. At one point, he provides five verses from John to show that salvation only comes from Christ by the preaching of his apostles. Five for five verses point to Christ as the only means of salvation. Five for five verses fail to make any mention of the apostles' preaching, much less the necessity of it.

John Piper's argument fails because he mistakes the ordinary means of learning about salvation for the exclusive means of learning about salvation, and he ignores the possibility of private revelation - an oversight made all the more amazing by the fact that he often quotes Romans. The author of Romans, St. Paul, did not come to Christ through the preaching of the apostles. Named Saul at the time, the young Pharisee impassively watched the execution of St. Stephen, and promptly set out to kill Christians outside the Jerusalem area when Jesus Christ Himself relates to him the Gospel. It was not the preaching of men that converted Paul, but the direct revelation of God. This is an example of a larger fallacy in Piper's work: If Scripture talks about or emphasizes that X is a property of A, then Y cannot sometimes be a property of A.

The argument is set in the curious context of "motivation for missions" - as if the motivational consequences of a theological doctrine could have any bearing on the truth of that doctrine, one way or another. Further, I don't find Piper's claim that the theoretical possibility of salvation by faith through grace apart from preaching - the barest hint of which is emphatically denied by this work - would have a significant and detrimental effect on the motivation of missionaries. The difference is akin to the difference in motivation between two rescue workers: the first told that if he does not reach a stranded man, that man will surely die; the second told that if he does not reach the stranded man, there is the faintest of theoretical possibilities that the man may survive.

That said, Piper's work does do a reasonable job of establishing that there is no salvation outside the Church (something we knew since Unam Sanctum, but that theological liberals love to forget or ignore) and rejecting various errors about the nature of Hell. I removed the two stars for the author's repeated and staunch claims to have refuted things that he never really addressed. I don't think the possibility of salvation without preaching is likely, and may not even occur, but there is no proof that convincingly states that it does not. Piper's argument doesn't touch the theoretical possibility entertained by Vatican II, but I'm not sure he meant to address it. He certainly didn't succeed if he did mean to.]]> 4.11 2010 Jesus: The Only Way to God: Must You Hear The Gospel To Be Saved?
author: John Piper
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2012/07/09
date added: 2012/07/09
shelves: theology
review:
John Piper presents an argument that all people need to hear the Gospel to be saved. It follows from these propositions:
1) The entire human race has sinned and offended God.
2) The punishment for such sin is eternal.
3) Man cannot atone for this sin by his own means.
4) By grace through faith in Christ, man can be saved from eternal punishment.
5) Apart from the grace of Christ, there is no satisfaction for man's sin.
6) Man can come to the grace of Christ by hearing the Gospel.
7) Without being preached to, a man cannot come to the grace of Christ.
Piper presents a mostly convincing argument for the first six points, but fails to ever prove point #7, and indeed assumes its validity. At one point, he provides five verses from John to show that salvation only comes from Christ by the preaching of his apostles. Five for five verses point to Christ as the only means of salvation. Five for five verses fail to make any mention of the apostles' preaching, much less the necessity of it.

John Piper's argument fails because he mistakes the ordinary means of learning about salvation for the exclusive means of learning about salvation, and he ignores the possibility of private revelation - an oversight made all the more amazing by the fact that he often quotes Romans. The author of Romans, St. Paul, did not come to Christ through the preaching of the apostles. Named Saul at the time, the young Pharisee impassively watched the execution of St. Stephen, and promptly set out to kill Christians outside the Jerusalem area when Jesus Christ Himself relates to him the Gospel. It was not the preaching of men that converted Paul, but the direct revelation of God. This is an example of a larger fallacy in Piper's work: If Scripture talks about or emphasizes that X is a property of A, then Y cannot sometimes be a property of A.

The argument is set in the curious context of "motivation for missions" - as if the motivational consequences of a theological doctrine could have any bearing on the truth of that doctrine, one way or another. Further, I don't find Piper's claim that the theoretical possibility of salvation by faith through grace apart from preaching - the barest hint of which is emphatically denied by this work - would have a significant and detrimental effect on the motivation of missionaries. The difference is akin to the difference in motivation between two rescue workers: the first told that if he does not reach a stranded man, that man will surely die; the second told that if he does not reach the stranded man, there is the faintest of theoretical possibilities that the man may survive.

That said, Piper's work does do a reasonable job of establishing that there is no salvation outside the Church (something we knew since Unam Sanctum, but that theological liberals love to forget or ignore) and rejecting various errors about the nature of Hell. I removed the two stars for the author's repeated and staunch claims to have refuted things that he never really addressed. I don't think the possibility of salvation without preaching is likely, and may not even occur, but there is no proof that convincingly states that it does not. Piper's argument doesn't touch the theoretical possibility entertained by Vatican II, but I'm not sure he meant to address it. He certainly didn't succeed if he did mean to.
]]> <![CDATA[World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War]]> 8908
Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, "By excluding the human factor, aren't we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn't the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as 'the living dead'?"

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.]]> 342 Max Brooks 0307346609 Kevin 3 science-fiction
The book has two really fatal flaws. I think it really deserves 2.5 stars, but I can't give it that. The first flaw is that the initial rise of the zombies is not realistically justified. The author really asks the reader to discard his intellect for the beginning of the apocalypse. There is simply no way the battles the author relates could have gone the way they did, even assuming massive levels of stupidity on the part of the military command. The second major flaw is the author's communitarian preachiness. He uses the zombie apocalypse to remake humanity in what he views as a 'more proper' image, and it's really just annoying for readers who do not share his social and political views.]]> 4.02 2006 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
author: Max Brooks
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2012/06/19
date added: 2012/06/25
shelves: science-fiction
review:
Once the infected hordes have already taken control of much of the planet, the book has a few glaring flaws - especially with respect to human groups eschewing obviously effective tactics in favor of ones that apparently tell a better story. The author presents an interesting view of how different people and nations would react to the event, and what massive changes in the balance of power would follow.

The book has two really fatal flaws. I think it really deserves 2.5 stars, but I can't give it that. The first flaw is that the initial rise of the zombies is not realistically justified. The author really asks the reader to discard his intellect for the beginning of the apocalypse. There is simply no way the battles the author relates could have gone the way they did, even assuming massive levels of stupidity on the part of the military command. The second major flaw is the author's communitarian preachiness. He uses the zombie apocalypse to remake humanity in what he views as a 'more proper' image, and it's really just annoying for readers who do not share his social and political views.
]]> <![CDATA[True Freedom: On Protecting Human Dignity and Religious Liberty]]> 15712218
Religion and the dignity of human life are under attack by a variety of threats in the modern world including abortion, infanticide, eugenics, misuse of artificial reproductive technologies, an unjust distribution of economic resources, war, the arms trade, drugs, and human trafficking. What can be done to stop this? Cardinal Timothy Dolan explains the need for all Americans to embrace a new culture rooted in what Blessed John Paul II called the Gospel of Life where the sacredness of all human life, and the freedoms that are their birthright, are upheld, respected and protected by law.]]> 37 Timothy M. Dolan 0385344937 Kevin 5 political-theory, theology
I liked the book. ]]> 4.15 2012 True Freedom: On Protecting Human Dignity and Religious Liberty
author: Timothy M. Dolan
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2012/06/19
date added: 2012/06/19
shelves: political-theory, theology
review:
Timothy Cardinal Dolan's very short work concerns itself with basis of freedom in objective truth. Building off the Blessed John Paul II's The Gospel of Life, Dolan discusses natural law ("Natural law is a concept of objective truth, known by anyone with the power of reason") as the source of moral knowledge and the foundation of civil law. He focuses on John Paul's opposition of the "culture of death" and its concern with "having and doing" with the "culture of life" and its focus on "being." Modern secular ethics tend to ascribe a right to life to individuals based on certain functional characteristics of those individuals. Such an approach ethically enables the holocausts of the modern age (abortion) and allows groups to use arbitrary and often unjustified and unexplained criteria to de-humanize certain weaker groups. The focus of such ethical theories - if one can call them that - is on the self. Dolan talks about the preoccupation of this culture with consumerism, pragmatism, and utilitarianism - three "isms" which ultimately have the self as the focus and source of meaning. Such beliefs naturally exclude external objective truth, as any independent source of guidance would destroy the symphony of self-affirmation and self-importance. The "culture of life" on the other hand, correctly recognizes the right to life as pre-existing (a human right, recognized by governments, rather than a civil right, granted by governments) and innate. This philosophy should be important to those who concern themselves with liberty (in addition to good Christians); without an objective basis of rights, the inviolability of said rights fades into the mists of relativism.

I liked the book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter - And How to Make the Most of Them Now]]> 13523061 241 Meg Jay 0446575062 Kevin 4 other
The main thrust is this: you undergo major changes for the last time in your twenties, and your work and family life are probably going to be defined by what you do and do not do. If you want your life to look like X, you should start figuring that out now. If you don't know what you want your life to look like, start building useful pieces.

Keep in mind that this is a secular book - some of the author's advice to her clients in tending in the right direction, but far from it. In particular, the Church could have given you more complete answers for free on the topic of love. That aside, it was a good book, and it made me think. In particular, it made me realize I should evaluate what I want to get good at and be able to do now, and start practicing it. I'd recommend the book, but with the caveat that it should not be taken as moral advice.]]> 4.09 2012 The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter - And How to Make the Most of Them Now
author: Meg Jay
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2012/05/28
date added: 2012/05/28
shelves: other
review:
The author makes some excellent points: what we do and with whom we date and interact in our twenties will define the remainder of our life. She lays out the typical 'lost and wandering' feeling of a person in his 20s through discussion of counseling sessions with past clients.

The main thrust is this: you undergo major changes for the last time in your twenties, and your work and family life are probably going to be defined by what you do and do not do. If you want your life to look like X, you should start figuring that out now. If you don't know what you want your life to look like, start building useful pieces.

Keep in mind that this is a secular book - some of the author's advice to her clients in tending in the right direction, but far from it. In particular, the Church could have given you more complete answers for free on the topic of love. That aside, it was a good book, and it made me think. In particular, it made me realize I should evaluate what I want to get good at and be able to do now, and start practicing it. I'd recommend the book, but with the caveat that it should not be taken as moral advice.
]]> Declaration of Independents 12158999 302 Nick Gillespie Kevin 3 political-theory 3.87 2011 Declaration of Independents
author: Nick Gillespie
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2012/02/10
date added: 2012/05/03
shelves: political-theory
review:
Welch and Gillespie make the rather obvious case that people are fed up with both large political parties in the United States. They look at some different small-government, big-culture success stories in the past fifty years, though their conclusion that punk rock music brought down the Soviet Empire is incomplete at best, dishonest at worst. I daresay the Pope's trip to Poland had more to do with the fall than punk rock, military build-up more to do with the Pope's visit, and a collapsing socialist economy more to do with the fall than all the previous reasons. In any case, the authors proceed to outline some free-market-ish reform to reduce costs in education and healthcare. They reference various supporting studies, but they don't really cite them. A further annoyance is the coarse language and constant pop culture references - if your message is really on target, you won't need populist appeals like that, and if you always write like that, then I am truly sorry.
]]> <![CDATA[The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success]]> 994697
In The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark advances a revolutionary, controversial, and long overdue that Christianity and its related institutions are, in fact, directly responsible for the most significant intellectual, political, scientific, and economic breakthroughs of the past millennium.

In Starks view, what has propelled the West is not the tension between secular and nonsecular society, nor the pitting of science and the humanities against religious belief. Christian theology, Stark asserts, is the very font of While the worlds other great belief systems emphasized mystery, obedience, or introspection, Christianity alone embraced logic and reason as the path toward enlightenment, freedom, and progress. That is what made all the difference.

In explaining the Wests dominance, Stark convincingly debunks long-accepted truths.� For instance, by contending that capitalism thrived centuries before there was a Protestant work ethicor even Protestantshe counters the notion that the Protestant work ethic was responsible for kicking capitalism into overdrive. In the fifth century, Stark notes, Saint Augustine celebrated theological and material progress and the institution of exuberant invention.� By contrast, long before Augustine, Aristotle had condemned commercial trade as inconsistent with human virtuewhich helps further underscore that Augustines times were not the Dark Ages but the incubator for the Wests future glories.

This is a sweeping, multifaceted survey that takes readers from the Old World to the New, from the past to the present, overturning along the way not only centuries of prejudiced scholarship but the antireligious bias of our own time. The Victory of Reason proves that what we most admire about our worldscientific progress, democratic rule, free commerceis largely due to Christianity, through which we are all inheritors of this grand tradition.]]> 304 Rodney Stark 1400062284 Kevin 5 3.93 2005 The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success
author: Rodney Stark
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2012/04/09
date added: 2012/04/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plansexcept Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjayno matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Kevin 4 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/04/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitola rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Kevin 4 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/04/09
shelves:
review:
It was a good read. I won't go into detail here for fear of spoiling.
]]> <![CDATA[The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)]]> 2767052
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.]]> 374 Suzanne Collins Kevin 5 4.34 2008 The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2012/04/01
date added: 2012/04/02
shelves:
review:
I think most people are familiar with the trailer-version of the plot by now, so I won't reproduce it here. The book was entertaining and tense at times. I don't have too much to say, I'll need to read the rest of the trilogy.
]]> The Salvation Controversy 1807876 154 Jimmy Akin 1888992182 Kevin 4 theology 4.20 2001 The Salvation Controversy
author: Jimmy Akin
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2012/02/26
date added: 2012/02/26
shelves: theology
review:
The author, a convert to Roman Catholicism, touches on the major points of controversy between Catholics and Protestants on the subject of justification. I particularly liked his emphasis on the use of language. He was very careful to point out what different sides mean by the same terms. Occasionally I felt like he was setting up arguments that were straw men, but that the counterpoints would have worked just as well on a more full representation of the position in question. For Protestants, this will be a frustrating read: the author will sometimes dismiss a particular Protestant doctrine, and return to it much later in the book. As a former Calvinist, I thought the chapter on TULIP was well done, though I confess I am somewhat lost on the distinction between action and permission (as it pertains to double predestination) when discussing an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-ordaining God. The book concludes with an overview of the 1999 Lutheran-Catholic joint statement on justification, both to clear up confusion about the document, and I think to admonish Catholics to take a conciliatory tone with Protestants when discussing these subjects. The Wars of Religion are long over, we can put away the cannons.
]]> <![CDATA[Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body]]> 414911 768 Pope John Paul II 0819874213 Kevin 4 theology
On the bright side, the late Pontiff's analysis of the initial institution of marriage in Genesis was interesting and (to me) novel. I think the two most useful parts of the work are the explanations and discussion of chastity toward the end of the first part, and the analysis of Humanae Vitae in the light of the theology of the body. In the section on marriage, he appeared to dance around some topics, but the statement in the conclusion that the focus was on marriage's sacramentality somewhat justifies this.

Overall, a worthwhile read, but a concise version would be nice.]]> 4.59 1985 Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body
author: Pope John Paul II
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.59
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2012/02/22
date added: 2012/02/23
shelves: theology
review:
First of all, this is not so much a single coherent work as a collection of short homilies. The repeated introductions and conclusions make for slow going, and the translation is somewhat frustrating at times ("problematic" is not a noun). Furthermore - and this could be an artifact of the translation - some of the derivations he makes are difficult to follow, at times appearing to be non sequiturs.

On the bright side, the late Pontiff's analysis of the initial institution of marriage in Genesis was interesting and (to me) novel. I think the two most useful parts of the work are the explanations and discussion of chastity toward the end of the first part, and the analysis of Humanae Vitae in the light of the theology of the body. In the section on marriage, he appeared to dance around some topics, but the statement in the conclusion that the focus was on marriage's sacramentality somewhat justifies this.

Overall, a worthwhile read, but a concise version would be nice.
]]> Atlas Shrugged 662 This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators?

Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the worlds motor � and the motive power of every man? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story.

Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life � from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy � to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction � to the philosopher who becomes a pirate � to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumph � to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad � to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels.

You must be prepared, when you read this novel, to check every premise at the root of your convictions.

This is a mystery story, not about the murder � and rebirth � of mans spirit. It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events, a ruthlessly brilliant plot structure and an irresistible suspense. Do you say this is impossible? Well, that is the first of your premises to check.]]> 1168 Ayn Rand 0452011876 Kevin 0 to-read 3.67 1957 Atlas Shrugged
author: Ayn Rand
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1957
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Fountainhead 2122
This modern classic is the story of intransigent young architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite...of Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark passionately, but married his worst enemy...and of the fanatic denunciation unleashed by an enraged society against a great creator. As fresh today as it was then, Rands provocative novel presents one of the most challenging ideas in all of fictionthat mans ego is the fountainhead of human progress...

A writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly...This is the only novel of ideas written by an American woman that I can recall.The New York Times]]> 704 Ayn Rand Kevin 0 to-read 3.87 1943 The Fountainhead
author: Ayn Rand
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1943
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Economics in One Lesson 3028 Economics in One Lesson is a classic economic primer. But it is also much more, having become a fundamental influence on modern libertarian� economics of the type espoused by Ron Paul and others.

Considered among the leading economic thinkers of the Austrian School,� which includes Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich (F.A.) Hayek, and others, Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993), was a libertarian philosopher, an economist, and a journalist. He was the founding vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education and an early editor of The Freeman magazine, an influential libertarian publication. Hazlitt wrote Economics in One Lesson, his seminal work, in 1946. Concise and instructive, it is also deceptively prescient and far-reaching in its efforts to dissemble economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy.

Many current economic commentators across the political spectrum have credited Hazlitt with foreseeing the collapse of the global economy which occurred more than 50 years after the initial publication of Economics in One Lesson. Hazlitts focus on non-governmental solutions, strong � and strongly reasoned � anti-deficit position, and general emphasis on free markets, economic liberty of individuals, and the dangers of government intervention make Economics in One Lesson, every bit as relevant and valuable today as it has been since publication.]]> 218 Henry Hazlitt Kevin 5 economics 4.16 1946 Economics in One Lesson
author: Henry Hazlitt
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1946
rating: 5
read at: 2012/01/29
date added: 2012/01/30
shelves: economics
review:
Opportunity cost. The book never uses the words, but the famous lesson is this: do not neglect opportunity cost. The main thrust of the book is that to do economics correctly, one must trace both the seen and unseen effects of a given policy, for the general population in both long- and short-term time scales. The bulk of the book is the application of opportunity cost to a variety of popular economic ideas, and the demonstration of how clever gimmicks do not increase wealth in the long run. Hazlitt touches on unions, inflation, protectionism, attacks on savings, and many more. It's a good read, perhaps as a "second book" on economics, after some introduction to supply, demand, and capital formation.
]]> Heretics 612143 In addition to incisive assessments of well-known individuals ("Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small" and "Mr. H. G. Wells and the Giants"), these essays contain observations on the wider world. "On Sandals and Simplicity," "Science and the Savages," "On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family," "On Smart Novelists and the Smart Set," and "Slum Novelists and the Slums" reflect the main themes of Chesterton's life's work. Heretics roused the ire of some critics for censuring contemporary philosophies without providing alternatives; the author responded a few years later with a companion volume, Orthodoxy. Sardonic, jolly, and generous, both books are vintage Chesterton.

He is criticizing those who hold incomplete and inadequate views about "life, the universe, and everything." He is, in short, criticizing all that host of non-Christian views of reality, as he demonstrated in his follow-up book Orthodoxy. The book is both an easy read and a difficult read. But he manages to demonstrate, among other things, that our new 21st century heresies are really not new because he himself deals with most of them.]]> 176 G.K. Chesterton 0486449149 Kevin 4 Heretics ended up at the head of my slightly non-deterministic reading queue. It was a quick read, due in equal parts to fascination and frustration.

Chestertons lament is that everything is important, except everything� � that we had come to care more about the tiny details and positions one might hold rather than ones overarching and all-encompassing philosophy of life. Furthermore, we have ceased to care about being right, about being orthodox. He argues that the modern man cares nothing for the notion that he might be heretical, while the ancient man would never entertain such a thought. He was orthodox, even if the entire world held a heresy.

Gilbert Keith (poor man) Chesterton proceeds to analyze and assail the dogma � or lack thereof � espoused by some of his contemporaries. In this same spirit, and possibly having some causal link with the aforementioned frustration, let me say this: Mr. McCabes description of Mr. Chesterton hits the nail on the head. The man makes up facts� and substitutes imagination for judgment.� He makes good points, but often by means of un-argued assertions and dubious chains of logic. Chesterton takes the mystery or absurdity� dichotomy route past its logical conclusion � he embraces both. One can sense that he has great things to say, but his manner of saying them is maddening to the theoretically-inclined mind. He rejects rationality, and I think he enjoys and revels in it. All that said, Mr. Chesterton was a very entertaining writer and I plan on reading his other books, starting with Orthodoxy.]]> 4.16 1905 Heretics
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1905
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/01/24
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review:
G. K. Chestertons Heretics ended up at the head of my slightly non-deterministic reading queue. It was a quick read, due in equal parts to fascination and frustration.

Chestertons lament is that everything is important, except everything� � that we had come to care more about the tiny details and positions one might hold rather than ones overarching and all-encompassing philosophy of life. Furthermore, we have ceased to care about being right, about being orthodox. He argues that the modern man cares nothing for the notion that he might be heretical, while the ancient man would never entertain such a thought. He was orthodox, even if the entire world held a heresy.

Gilbert Keith (poor man) Chesterton proceeds to analyze and assail the dogma � or lack thereof � espoused by some of his contemporaries. In this same spirit, and possibly having some causal link with the aforementioned frustration, let me say this: Mr. McCabes description of Mr. Chesterton hits the nail on the head. The man makes up facts� and substitutes imagination for judgment.� He makes good points, but often by means of un-argued assertions and dubious chains of logic. Chesterton takes the mystery or absurdity� dichotomy route past its logical conclusion � he embraces both. One can sense that he has great things to say, but his manner of saying them is maddening to the theoretically-inclined mind. He rejects rationality, and I think he enjoys and revels in it. All that said, Mr. Chesterton was a very entertaining writer and I plan on reading his other books, starting with Orthodoxy.
]]> <![CDATA[Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration]]> 82405 Pope Benedict XVI's iconic life of Jesus, a rich, compelling, flesh-and-blood portrait of the central figure of the Christian faith.

"This book is . . . my personal search 'for the face of the Lord.'"--Benedict XVI

In this bold, momentous work, the Pope seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from today's "popular" depictions and to restore his true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the Pope incites us to encounter Jesus face to face.

From Jesus of Nazareth ". . . the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: But what has Jesus really brought, then, if he has not brought world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who once gradually unveiled his countenance first to Abraham, then to Moses and the prophets, and then in the wisdom literature-the God who showed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love."]]> 374 Pope Benedict XVI 0385523416 Kevin 0 to-read 4.43 2007 Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration
author: Pope Benedict XVI
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/01/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> Paradise Lost 15997 Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle rages across three worlds - heaven, hell, and earth - as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, who are motivated by all too human temptations but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love.

Marked by Milton's characteristic erudition, Paradise Lost is a work epic both in scale and, notoriously, in ambition. For nearly 350 years, it has held generation upon generation of audiences in rapt attention, and its profound influence can be seen in almost every corner of Western culture.]]> 453 John Milton 0140424393 Kevin 0 to-read 3.83 1667 Paradise Lost
author: John Milton
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1667
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies]]> 1842
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: the global account of the rise of civilization that is also a stunning refutation of ideas of human development based on race.

In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed writing, technology, government, and organized religionas well as nasty germs and potent weapons of warand adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth Club of California's Gold Medal]]> 498 Jared Diamond 0739467352 Kevin 0 to-read 4.04 1997 Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
author: Jared Diamond
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/01/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Moon is a Harsh Mistress 1061927 382 Robert A. Heinlein 0312861761 Kevin 5 science-fiction 4.16 1966 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
author: Robert A. Heinlein
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1966
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: science-fiction
review:
A classic. A libertarian, self-policing moon colony rebels against the statist earth. You should read this book. I loved it back when I had little use for libertarianism - and I love it even more now.
]]> The Galleys at Lepanto 1634919
Remarkable men fought on both sides-the young and princely John of Austria leading the Christian forces; the many-sided genius who was the sultans grand vizier leading the Turks. The twenty-four-year-old Cervantes and the infamous Englishman Thomas Stukeley were also among the soldiers.

Most of the ships present on both sides were galleys, their motive power the arms and backs of thousands of men: prisoners of war, slaves, convicts, and volunteers, living in abominable conditions. The Galleys at Lepanto is not merely a detailed account of the battle, but the story of the men who brought it about, those who commanded the galleys and who rowed them. Jack Beeching paints a compelling portrait of an era of Western history that was rife with religious and ideological conflict. Epic in scope and textured with finely wrought details, here is history at its most vivid and absorbing.]]> 251 Jack Beeching 0684179180 Kevin 5 history 4.39 1982 The Galleys at Lepanto
author: Jack Beeching
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1982
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: history
review:
History can often be boring, but this piece of history disguised the most important naval battle of the 16th century as an action-novel starring the almost comedically chivalrous Don Juan of Austria. Surrounded by stories of Mediterranean pirates, the epic defenses fought by the Hospitallers, and the Moorish rebellions of Spain, the tale of Don Juan builds to a climax at the Battle of Lepanto, where the Holy League Fleet smashes the previously invincible Ottoman Navy. Can you tell that I get excited about this period of history?
]]> The Prince 28862
1. So it is that to know the nature of a people, one need be a Prince; to know the nature of a Prince, one need to be of the people.
2. If a Prince is not given to vices that make him hated, it is unsusal for his subjects to show their affection for him.
3. Opportunity made Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus, and others; their virtue domi-nated the opportunity, making their homelands noble and happy. Armed prophets win; the disarmed lose.
4. Without faith and religion, man achieves power but not glory.
5. Prominent citizens want to command and oppress; the populace only wants to be free of oppression.
6. A Prince needs a friendly populace; otherwise in diversity there is no hope.
7. A Prince, who rules as a man of valor, avoids disasters,
8. Nations based on mercenary forces will never be solid or secure.
9. Mercenaries are dangerous because of their cowardice
10. There are two ways to fight: one with laws, the other with force. The first is rightly mans way; the second, the way of beasts.]]> 144 Niccol嘆 Machiavelli 0937832383 Kevin 4 good ideas, but he certainly has ideas with impressive explanatory power. Probably his biggest misstep is his military theory - heart and dedication matter, but on the field of battle, discipline and skill matter more. While wrong on the battlefield, his ideas do have an uncanny explanatory power with the current war in Afghanistan.

I'd recommend the book to any aspiring politician, but as a proscription, not a prescription.]]> 3.85 1513 The Prince
author: Niccol嘆 Machiavelli
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1513
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/01/23
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I'm not certain what to do with Machiavelli's most famous work. It's depressing, but often irrefutable from the moral framework that Niccolo promulgates: win. If the Greeks had not coined cynicism, this man would have. I can't really say that he had a lot of good ideas, but he certainly has ideas with impressive explanatory power. Probably his biggest misstep is his military theory - heart and dedication matter, but on the field of battle, discipline and skill matter more. While wrong on the battlefield, his ideas do have an uncanny explanatory power with the current war in Afghanistan.

I'd recommend the book to any aspiring politician, but as a proscription, not a prescription.
]]> <![CDATA[For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery]]> 30951


With his usual clarity and skepticism toward the received wisdom, Stark finds the origins of these disparate phenomena within monotheistic religious organizations. Endemic in such organizations are pressures to maintain religious intensity, which lead to intense conflicts and schisms that have far-reaching social results.

Along the way, Stark debunks many commonly accepted ideas. He interprets the sixteenth-century flowering of science not as a sudden revolution that burst religious barriers, but as the normal, gradual, and direct outgrowth of medieval theology. He also shows that the very ideas about God that sustained the rise of science led also to intense witch-hunting by otherwise clear-headed Europeans, including some celebrated scientists. This conception of God likewise yielded the Christian denunciation of slavery as an abomination--and some of the fiercest witch-hunters were devoted participants in successful abolitionist movements on both sides of the Atlantic.


For the Glory of God is an engrossing narrative that accounts for the very different histories of the Christian and Muslim worlds. It fundamentally changes our understanding of religion's role in history and the forces behind much of what we point to as secular progress.]]> 504 Rodney Stark 0691119503 Kevin 5
Rodney Stark, a sociologist, offers a well-written and compelling alternate analysis: Christianity was the driving force behind many of the peculiarities of Western civilization. He traces the good and the bad, from science to the Protestant Reformation to the witch-hunting phenomenon, to the unique qualities of the Christian religion. ]]> 3.95 2003 For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery
author: Rodney Stark
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/01/23
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Contemporary history and politically correct thought tends to paint the rise of Western Christianity that shackled and impeded the progress of humanity - a Dark Age only broken by the un-looked for dawn of the Renaissance and full day of the Enlightenment.

Rodney Stark, a sociologist, offers a well-written and compelling alternate analysis: Christianity was the driving force behind many of the peculiarities of Western civilization. He traces the good and the bad, from science to the Protestant Reformation to the witch-hunting phenomenon, to the unique qualities of the Christian religion.
]]> <![CDATA[God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades]]> 6987876 8 Rodney Stark 1400114705 Kevin 4 history
However, this book is based viewed as a polemic, to be taken together with contemporary histories of the Crusades, and not an independent history. The crimes committed by the Crusaders may have very well paled in contrast to their foes (I'd say it's more likely that everyone committed some impressive atrocities), but Stark is too defensive of a series of wars that ultimately had Just Cause, but was often conducted without justice and was occasionally diverted to alternate, if perhaps deserving, targets.]]> 3.74 2009 God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades
author: Rodney Stark
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: history
review:
The Crusades have been viewed as an absolute evil by modern historians and many churchmen. Rodney Stark writes a very well-cited rebuttal to many of the myths surrounding the Crusades, arguing specifically that the Crusades were religious phenomenon and driven more by faith and family ties than infant colonialism or a need to dispose of surplus sons.

However, this book is based viewed as a polemic, to be taken together with contemporary histories of the Crusades, and not an independent history. The crimes committed by the Crusaders may have very well paled in contrast to their foes (I'd say it's more likely that everyone committed some impressive atrocities), but Stark is too defensive of a series of wars that ultimately had Just Cause, but was often conducted without justice and was occasionally diverted to alternate, if perhaps deserving, targets.
]]> <![CDATA[Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism]]> 98504
Finalist for the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award

One of the worlds foremost authorities on the subject of suicide terrorism, the esteemed political scientist Robert Pape has created the first comprehensive database of every suicide terrorist attack in the world from 1980 until today. In Dying to Win , Pape provides a groundbreaking demographic profile of modern suicide terrorist attackersand his findings offer a powerful counterpoint to what we now accept as conventional wisdom on the topic. He also examines the early practitioners of this guerrilla tactic, including the ancient Jewish Zealots, who in A.D. 66 wished to liberate themselves from Roman occupation; the Ismaili Assassins, a Shiite Muslim sect in northern Iran in the eleventh and twelfth centuries; World War IIs Japanese kamikaze pilots, three thousand of whom crashed into U.S. naval vessels; and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, a secular, Marxist-Leninist organization responsible for more suicide terrorist attacks than any other group in history.

Dying to Win is a startling work of analysis grounded in fact, not politics, that recommends concrete ways for states to fight and prevent terrorist attacks now. Transcending speculation with systematic scholarship, this is one of the most important studies of the terrorist threat to the United States and its allies since 9/11.

Invaluable . . . gives Americans an urgently needed basis for devising a strategy to defeat Osama bin Laden and other Islamist militants.�
Michael Scheuer, author of Imperial Hubris

Provocative . . . Pape wants to change the way you think about suicide bombings and explain why they are on the rise.�
Henry Schuster, CNN.com

Enlightening . . . sheds interesting light on a phenomenon often mistakenly believed to be restricted to the Middle East.�
The Washington Post Book World

B姻庄鉛鉛庄温稼岳.�
Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc.]]> 368 Robert A. Pape 0812973380 Kevin 0 to-read 3.89 2005 Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism
author: Robert A. Pape
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century]]> 1911 593 Thomas L. Friedman 0374292795 Kevin 0 to-read 3.69 2005 The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
author: Thomas L. Friedman
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Anthem 667 Anthem is Ayn Rand's classic tale of a dystopian future of the great "We"a world that deprives individuals of a name or independencethat anticipates her later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

They existed only to serve the state. They were conceived in controlled Palaces of Mating. They died in the Home of the Useless. From cradle to grave, the crowd was onethe great WE.

In all that was left of humanity, there was only one man who dared to think, seek, and love. He lived in the dark ages of the future. In a loveless world, he dared to love the woman of his choice. In an age that had lost all trace of science and civilization, he had the courage to seek and find knowledge. But these were not the crimes for which he would be hunted. He was marked for death because he had committed the unpardonable sin: He had stood forth from the mindless human herd. He was a man alone. He had rediscovered the lost and holy wordI.

"I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals, and I loathe humanity, for its failure to live up to these possibilities."
Ayn Rand]]> 105 Ayn Rand 0452281253 Kevin 4 political-theory Anthem is Ayn Rand's story of a couple's escape from an extreme collectivist society to start their own, based on freedom and individualism rather than force. While the antagonist society bears no real resemblance to any realm I can think of, the city does exhibit some haunting similarities to some of today's more expansive governments. I would rank this book with 1984 and Brave New World as excellent critiques of Leviathan. ]]> 3.59 1938 Anthem
author: Ayn Rand
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: political-theory
review:
Anthem is Ayn Rand's story of a couple's escape from an extreme collectivist society to start their own, based on freedom and individualism rather than force. While the antagonist society bears no real resemblance to any realm I can think of, the city does exhibit some haunting similarities to some of today's more expansive governments. I would rank this book with 1984 and Brave New World as excellent critiques of Leviathan.
]]> The Communist Manifesto 30474 The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels' revolutionary 1848 summons to the working classes, is one of the most influential political theories ever formulated. After four years of collaboration, the authors produced this incisive account of their idea of Communism, in which they envisage a society without classes, private property, or a state. They argue that increasing exploitation of industrial workers will eventually lead to a revolution in which capitalism is overthrown. Their vision transformed the world irrevocably, and remains relevant as a depiction of global capitalism today.]]> 288 Karl Marx 0140447571 Kevin 3 political-theory 3.67 1848 The Communist Manifesto
author: Karl Marx
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1848
rating: 3
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date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: political-theory
review:
The best thing I can say about this work is that it is extremely well-written. The prose is witty, incisive, and just plain good writing. The ideas given life by such excellent words are, unfortunately, terrible.
]]> The Revolution 6855900

The Founding Fathers didn't want any of this. In fact, they said so quite clearly in the Constitution of the United States of America. Unfortunately, that beautiful, ingenious, and revolutionary document is being ignored more and more in Washington. If we are to enjoy peace, freedom, and prosperity once again, we absolutely must return to the principles upon which America was founded. But finally, there is hope . . .

In The Revolution, Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul has exposed the core truths behind everything threatening America, from the real reasons behind the collapse of the dollar and the looming financial crisis, to terrorism and the loss of our precious civil liberties. In this book, Ron Paul provides answers to questions that few even dare to ask.

Despite a media blackout, this septuagenarian physician-turned-congressman sparked a movement that has attracted a legion of young, dedicated, enthusiastic supporters . . . a phenomenon that has amazed veteran political observers and made more than one political rival envious. Candidates across America are already running as "Ron Paul Republicans."

"Dr. Paul cured my apathy," says a popular campaign sign. The Revolution may cure yours as well.]]> 191 Ron Paul 0446537527 Kevin 5 political-theory 4.23 2008 The Revolution
author: Ron Paul
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: political-theory
review:
This book cemented a major change in my political ideology. Since I had graduated from college, I had been experimenting with some libertarian ideas. I remembered Representative Paul as the candidate from 2008 with the foreign policy I could not understand, and a strange interest in money. Upon further examination, it became clear that he was different from the mainstream GOP because he was sane. He's not very articulate in front of a camera, but this book lays out his philosophy in seven concise chapters. It is notable that this 2008 campaign book is still popular almost four years later.
]]> <![CDATA[The Essential Catholic Handbook of the Sacraments: A Summary of Beliefs, Rites, and Prayers (Redemptorist Pastoral Publication)]]> 1664449
Easy-to-use and referenced to the Rites of the Church, the Catechism, and the Roman Missal, this book is an indispensable resource for those who want a sound Catholic guide and reference resource for the sacraments of the Church.

Paperback]]> 304 Father John Mudd 0764807811 Kevin 4 theology 4.25 2001 The Essential Catholic Handbook of the Sacraments: A Summary of Beliefs, Rites, and Prayers (Redemptorist Pastoral Publication)
author: Father John Mudd
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: theology
review:
Presents a good, if brief, overview of each of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The history of each Sacrament is covered, along with its scriptural basis, effects, and ministers. Pre- and post-Vatican-II ceremonies are also described. There is nothing earth-shattering or life-changing about this book, but it is very informative.
]]> Till We Have Faces 17343
Set against the backdrop of Glome, a barbaric, pre-Christian world, the struggles between sacred and profane love are illuminated as Orual learns that we cannot understand the intent of the gods "till we have faces" and sincerity in our souls and selves.]]> 313 C.S. Lewis Kevin 5 4.19 1956 Till We Have Faces
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1956
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/01/23
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I loved this book. It's a classic defense of the gods to men. I've only read it once, and far to fast, and I don't recall all of it. I do recall that it is the only book I can ever remember reading that has made me cry. I don't say that lightly.
]]> <![CDATA[The Big Three in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes]]> 368298 264 Mark Skousen 0765616947 Kevin 5 economics 3.60 2007 The Big Three in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes
author: Mark Skousen
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: economics
review:
Dr. Skousen tells a history of economic theory through the lives and ideas of three economists, interspersed with competing and complementing theories from history. As the title suggests, he focuses primarily on Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes, but the interludes are filled with discussions of other great names such as David Ricardo, Frederic Bastiat, Carl Menger, Paul Samuelson, Milton Friedman, and others. I thought the book was reasonable and fair-minded in its critique of each theory, and occasionally provided empirical evidence to support some of the more salient points. Overall, it's a fun read, and provides insight into the lives of the great economists, as well as the theories which shaped our world.
]]> <![CDATA[Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus]]> 1274
Based on years of successful counseling of couples and individuals, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus has helped millions of couples transform their relationships. Now viewed as a modern classic, this phenomenal book has helped men and women realize how different they really are and how to communicate their needs in such a way that conflict doesn't arise and intimacy is given every chance to grow!!!!]]> 368 John Gray 0060574216 Kevin 3 3.59 1992 Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
author: John Gray
name: Kevin
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1992
rating: 3
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date added: 2012/01/23
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review:
The book was highly and almost exclusively practical. So practical, in fact, that a fiction theoretical component is added to avoid any real theory - which might have been more interesting. Rather than dwelling on why such a behavior might be, Mr. Gray simply says "That's the way it is" and then proceeds to explain how to manipulate it. While I understand that the purpose of this book is to help men and women understand each other, and the narrative is at times insightful, the author essentially builds stereotypes. I was also troubled by what I perceived as advocating manipulation of one's spouse to make both lives easier. This may not have been the intention, but that was the impression I got.
]]> <![CDATA[Queen Mother: A Biblical Theology of Mary's Queenship (Letter & Spirit Project)]]> 663045 234 Edward Sri 1931018243 Kevin 4 theology 4.15 2005 Queen Mother: A Biblical Theology of Mary's Queenship (Letter & Spirit Project)
author: Edward Sri
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: theology
review:
This book was organized almost like a conference paper, with the slightly redundant introduction, somewhat condescending related work, technical and well-argued "section three" and redundant conclusion. The author fuses historical and scriptural accounts of queen mother traditions to related the Queenship of St. Mary with the concept of Christianity as a restoration or renewal of the Kingdom of Israel - with Peter as the Steward of the Keys and (spoiler alert) Mary as the Queen Mother. The argument presented is clear and highly plausible, but not so strong as to be truly compelling.
]]> Economics 322187 800 Paul A. Samuelson 0072872055 Kevin 0 to-read 4.02 1948 Economics
author: Paul A. Samuelson
name: Kevin
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1948
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/01/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>