January Book Reviews

The books I read in January:

The Potter’s Freedom by James White.
A response to the Norman Geisler book, Chosen but Free. Both books are a little dated by this point, I haven’t actually read Geisler’s book, just one of his apologetics books back in High School. But I’d heard a lot about White’s book as a defense of TULIP and picked it up at a bookstore a couple of years ago and decided to read through it. While some of it can be read as a basic Calvinist defense against common objections to the doctrines of grace, I can’t say I’d recommend it to someone who wasn’t looking for a response to Geisler’s book. Books like RC Sproul’s What is Reformed Theology, Michael Horton’s Putting the Amazing Back into Grace, and others are readily available.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Definitely a page turner that drew me in, though I guess I need to emphasize that, if it wasn’t already obvious, this is for adults and mature teens, and those not easily icked or disturbed. Very much in the vein of Silence of the Lambs, Jazz Dent is the son of the world’s most notorious serial killer, who hoped to turn him into his protege. When a copycat appears in his hometown, Jazz tries to use the skills his father taught him to catch the killer. The mystery aspect was interesting, but the graphic and disturbing detail were a bit much for me. More critically, the resolution left me a bit disappointed in terms of Jazz actually solving the case, vs something that leads into a second book when I’m not sure I really want to continue to series.

Secret Missions of the Civil War by Philip Van Doren Stern
An interesting collection of espionage stories, mostly primary source collections, from the Civil War. It highlights several fascinating stories, of rogue Confederate ships in Antarctica, female spies seducing officers, and possible confederate involvement in the New York Draft Riots. Unfortunately the fog of war has left many mysteries to history and it’s likely we’ll never know the full story of what went on, even who was actually working for who. Still good for a history or civil war buff.

In Real Life written by Cory Doctorow, drawn by Jen Wang
Graphic novel dealing with girl gamers, international labor exploitation, gold farming and the best of intentions going wrong. Loved the artwork, and ends up being a feel good story but I feel like, I don’t know, something was missing.