BlakeAtwood.com

MOTS (More of the Same, see Lost in a Good Book). Unlike movies, there are more book series that maintain interest and become more inventive over time and their various sequels. Fforde’s Lost Plots contines the story of Literary Detective Thursday Next as she now inhabits the Book World. I loved the way Fforde equated updating books as if it were software. Of course, there’s a vast conspiracy in the Book World to keep the upgrade on schedule…until Thursday Next catches wind of it.

www.thursdaynext.com

Very funny book by sportswriter (and Leatherheads scribe) Rick Reilly who tries to answer that eternal question – what’s it like to be a caddy? With stories about looping for John Daly, David Duval, Donald Trump, a blind golfer, and others, Caddy is quite humorous, a little ribald, and wholly entertaining.

www.rickreillyonline.com

A book written based on the assumption and corresponding research that complexity in churches is not beneficial to the life of the church. Paring down to the basics (see Google’s search page vs. Yahoo’s search page) and focusing everything about the church on a few principles seems to make churches grow better (i.e. deeper). These principles are three-fold: loving God, loving others, loving the world. Seems easy enough, but putting it into practice in a complex organization full of ministers doing “good works” is much more difficult.

More like 4.5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As a near-lifelong Christian, this book was eye-opening. An agnostic, liberal-leaning, New York City-based, Jewish editor of Esquire attempts to follow all the rules of the Bible. His fresh eyes, insightful mind, and open heart reveal the often dueling claims of both the Old and New Testament, showing both the beauty and the flaws of being a literalist. Fortunately, his year-long venture provides more than just intellectual fodder; it engages his life, transforms his worldview, and connects him with a religious and familial history he otherwise took for granted. I’d recommend this work to anyone, but especially to “lifelong” Christians that could use a fresh take on the Word of God.

www.ajjacobs.com

[P.S. A few weeks after this post, I found out a friend of mine was actually quoted in this book from an article he'd posted online years ago regarding Alcohol and the Bible.]