Book Review: Coronavirus and Christ
Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Book Review: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Newport gives many practical steps to think through and adapt to your own needs. He seemed to strive for a balanced approach between connectivity and deep work, which requires less connectivity and more isolation. The implications for deep work are ubiquitous across all industries and disciplines, so everyone could benefit from it. I appreciated the brief section he had thinking about the relationship we have with our tools. It something that needs more thought.
Book Review: Hamlet’s Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age
Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age by William Powers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Review: The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do
The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do by Jeff Goins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
My thoughts on this book are mixed. It is well-written in terms of craft. The human interest stories are compelling. It does have some useful suggestions and advice, but I don’t know that it accomplished its own expectation. I am probably cynical when it comes to pursue-your-dreams and live-a-radical-life messages. So, keep that in mind.
The idea of selfless service was not absent, but it wasn’t prominent enough. There wasn’t any effort to resolve tensions. For example: it could be an act of complete selfishness and self-centeredness to leave everything and move to Burundi. It might not be so, but the tension wasn’t explored. Being published by Thomas Nelson, I expected more of a Christian worldview on vocation–finding our purpose in life is found in pursuing God’s kingdom and his righteousness first and the greatest is the least and servant of all. It seemed that kind of message was watered down and, instead, there was some fuzzy, mystical stuff about “calling” and some near motivational guru speak. The message comes across as your failing unless you’re living in some radical, unconventional way. Where does this sort of message leave the Bible’s idea of a blessed life as being a quiet peaceable life with loving family?
Again, it wasn’t all bad. Apparently, many have read it and profited from it.
Book Review: Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches us to Live in Light of the End
Posted by Jeff Short on January 6, 2020 · Leave a Comment
Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End by David Gibson
This book is a commentary and study of Ecclesiastes. The author takes a practical approach to the book’s message of living life with the end of life in view. He focuses on that main theme and gives us a helpful and accessible look at the book of Ecclesiastes that Christians probably don’t pay enough attention to.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Filed under Reviews, Short Booklog · Tagged with Christian Life, Commentary, Death, Ecclesiastes, Life, Reviews, Wisdom