The link below is to another article considering the debate surrounding book bloggers and literary criticism.
For more visit:
http://www.teleread.com/books/book-bloggers-are-they-killing-lit-criticism-or-saving-it/
Tag Archives: bad
Article: Is E-Reading Bad for Your Brain?
The link below is to an article that asks the question, ‘is e-reading bad for your brain?’ What do you think?
Article: Bad History Books
The link below is to an article that looks into bad history books – what do you think? Know of any bad history books?
For more visit:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/07/lies-the-debunkers-told-me-how-bad-history-books-win-us-over/260251/
Article: Historical Bad Reviews of Eventual Classics
The link below is to an article that looks at the reviews of eleven books that eventually became classics. Earlier opinions on each of the books mentioned in the article were hardly flattering.
For more visit:
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/124207
Blog: Terrible Books
The link below is to a Blog about awful books. Of course what is a bad or good book all boils down to personal perception, however I’m sure some of the books here described will also enter your list of terrible books.
For more visit:
http://awfullibrarybooks.net/
‘Calvin for Armchair Theologians,’ by Christopher Elwood
I have now read this book and have found my earlier thoughts sadly confirmed. My first comments on this book on this Blog at:
So I not only agree with my earlier thoughts on the book, but have even more to say about it. The illustrations (cartoons) I found to be completely inappropriate and the attempts by the author to justify them as irrelevant. There is just no place for the comical depictions of God given in the book.
The treatment of Calvin’s life is disappointing, with not enough detail given to it and some of the important events/incidents in his life are not treated or merely glossed over. It would have been better to have settled on the summary of the Institutes or do a full biography of John Calvin.
I also found the conclusions toward the end of the book disappointing and would suspect Calvin to be turning in the grave as a result of them.
The summary of the Institutes was probably not too bad, but I would have been better served to have read the Institutes rather than this book.
In summary – a very disappointing book that I would not recommend to anyone else to read.
Changing the World: November 22 – Thanks
The suggestion for today is to acknowledge and express thanks for those who have improved the human condition – for humanity in general and for myself in particular.
Today is known in the United States as ‘Thanksgiving Day.’ Here in Australia we know no such day – something which could be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, in that it is not another day commercialised and bad, in that there is no particular day for acknowledging our gratitude to those that have improved our lives, etc.
But why do we need a particular day for this – can we not be thankful and express our gratitude on a daily basis? I think we can. I am not calling for a false expression of gratitude and thankfulness, but that which is real and true – surely we can all find something to be thankful for? I know it isn’t hard for me to find plenty to be thankful for throughout each day.
A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton
Thomas Nelson Book Reviewer
I have this morning become a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson. This will involve me reading and reviewing books that Thomas Nelson send to me. It is an unpaid job, but I do get to keep the books I review. I guess this could be a good and/or bad thing, depending on the individual book I read and review.
Being a part of this program will allow me to keep current on trends in Christianity – at least to some degree, as I read and review the books that are sent to me. It will also save me money as I don’t have to pay for the actual books that are sent to me. So the library will continue to grow and my reading will span the length and breadth of the current ‘Christian’ scene.
I will be posting reviews of the books I read and review for Thomas Nelson here, so readers of this Blog will be able to ‘experience’ the journey with me. They will also be posted on commercial book selling sites.
My reviews, will of course, be from my Particular Baptist perspective – which I guess will be somewhat novel for a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.
At the BookShelf 