The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? by Michael J. SandelMy rating: 5 of 5 starsI loved Sandel's book Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? His power is incisive analysis: he cuts to the Augustinian heart of divisive issues using classic...
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution by Carl R. Trueman.My rating: 5 of 5 stars I'm hoping to publish in a journal a more extensive review of this excellent—though long and at times...
Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence by Alex BerensonMy rating: 5 of 5 starsFor every book there is an equal and opposite book. I read Smoke Signals by Martin Lee in preparation for my own small coauthored book, Can I Smoke Pot?...
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter IsaacsonMy rating: 5 of 5 starsSomehow some writers of biography end up sounding trite, both in their relating of their subjects' stories and in the lessons they draw...
I love my brothers and sisters in Christ who insist on the exclusive use of the King James Version, because we have a “like precious faith” in the biblical gospel—and because certain of those brothers and sisters showed great love to me in high school. They continue...
I was asked by a friend to write this. Thirty minutes later, here it was: Watch less TV. Don't let it be your default evening activity. Love higher and better things.Don’t let social media be your default activity either. I periodically delete my Facebook app, and on...
I work for a Christian publisher, and we have made Bibles of various kinds. If you could listen to our internal discussions, you would hear quickly that Crossway sets the standard for Bible publishing. More beautiful typography and more innovative editions have come...
Andrew Le Peau is surely qualified to write a book on writing better: he has been an editor at IVP for forty years. But I hope I’m qualified to say that (most of) the book, though fine, didn’t scratch where I personally itch. His advice for the first two thirds of the...
My company offers incentives to employees every year to read business books. By this means I have gotten through some self-helpy stuff I admit I would have disdained otherwise. To be honest, I feel icky when I read books that purport to lead you to a successful life...
A non-Christian friend I talked to many times on the bus asked me a question about whether or not he should take an online fiction-writing opportunity he'd been handed. I appreciated being asked. He's a neat guy with real talent. I replied, and it gave me an...
Ember Rising by S.D. Smith My rating: 5 of 5 stars Loved it. So did the kids. (And the illustrations, by my respected friend Zach Franzen, were also excellent.) For a good while I was thinking that this book is The Benedict Option for kids—and for adults who dutifully...
My heart goes out to Tara Westover. I rooted for her and felt defensive for her during 100% of the story. Other people’s epistemological sins harmed her. Precisely because of her love for her parents, those sins maintained a hold on her far, far into a life that, on...