Jeff Shaara, A Blaze of Glory

In this latest book, Shaara returns to his roots, in a sense, with a new novel (the first in a promised triology) on the Civil War. He cut his teeth (and gained his reputation) with Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure, a prequil and then a follow up to his father's Pulitzer Prize–winning The Killer Angels (the novel on which the film Gettysburg was based). In this new Civil War trilogy, Shaara is looking to the battles in the West, starting with this account of the battle of Shiloh. These battles are important for numerous reasons, from their importance in determining the war to their sheer size and scope to the people they shaped. Numerous characters well known for their roles later in the War emerge here, such as Sherman and Grant in the North and Forrest and Beauregard in the South. But, especially with Shiloh, the battle itself makes quite a tale.

In the early days of the war, after a few skirmishes in the eastern theater of the war, and after some initial Union success at Forts Henry and Donelson, the horrific potential of the war was only a faint shadow. Both armies seemed to regard their opponents as unworthy foes, questioning their resolve and character and expecting the other side to simply fold if pressed hard enough. But a major conflict like Shiloh would certainly begin to change that. An increasing number of Confederate troops were amassing in Corinth, just across the Tennessee border in Mississippi, whole Union troops were congregating near Savannah, Tennessee, occupying the land recently vacated by the retreating confederates. Clearly, a showdown was inevitable, but its precise location and character were not quite clear. Shaara recounts the somewhat audacious plan by Confederate General Johnston to attack the waiting Union camps, a plan that seems to have been doomed to failure as it unfolds. But a great battle ensues.

As with his other works, Shaara does a masterful job of tracking the movements and decisions of generals, orienting readers to the big picture and the important decisions being made on both sides, and also giving a widow into the lives of some of the key players in the Civil War. But he couples this with the on-the-ground experience of soldiers on both sides, recounting experiences of men living in the camps, fighting on the lines, and experiencing the horror, the fear, the rage, and the aftermath of the fighting itself. This two-pronged approach gives life to the book. He likewise captures the confusion of battle, the terror it engenders, and courage of soldiers, both infantrymen and generals alike, to carry on in such terrible conditions.

I greatly enjoyed this book, and the story of this important early battle. The ebb and flow of momentum, the command decisions on both sides, and the experiences of the men who lived it come together to make this a great story as well as a fascinating way to understand better the shape of this decisive American conflict. There is no doubt it also gives material for reflection, on the nature of war and its horrors, on the way we think about (and often assume the worst about) our enemies, and how God relates to battle. Though it starts a little slow, this book is a great story, and takes readers along on an entertaining and informative look at the Battle of Shiloh.

Thanks to the publisher and the Amazon Vine program for the review copy.

John Grisham, Calico Joe

Calico Joe is a baseball book, but more than that it is a story. It is just what you would expect from Grisham. The book revolves around a bean ball. Joe Castle was a young phenom on a meteoric rise in the big leagues. His explosion onto the scene is historic, he just keeps getting hits. Warren Tracey is a pitcher who is barely hanging on in the big show. He has just enough success to keep him pitching for the Mets, but just barely. The only way he is distinguished is by leading the league in hit batsmen. In the amazing summer of 1973, their paths seemed destined to cross, and they did.

Paul is Warren's son. Their relationship is rocky at best, and now, many years after Warren has left the family far behind, Paul remembers back to that fateful summer, back to the events that changed all of their lives. He was there on that day. And he never played baseball again.

This is a story about baseball, and about some of the unwritten rules that sometimes govern the game. But more than that it is a story of two men whose lives were forever changed. It is a quick read, and is a tale well told. As with many of his books, it is a study in human character, in this case, a look at self-destructive tendencies, but also forgiveness and resolution. It's not a legal thriller, but is in line with some of his other little character-stories such as Playing for Pizza or Bleachers. It's a great book to pick up as baseball season gets going for another summer.

Thanks to the publisher and Amazon Vine for the review copy.

Jim Abbott and Tim Brown, Imperfect

Jim Abbott is an improbable hero. He overcame a handicap (being born without a right hand) to play professional baseball at the highest level. This book is his story. And it is a good one. This is so for a few reasons. The book gives an inside perspective on what it is like to grow up being "different," and especially being noticeably so. Jim was used to the stares, the comments, the questions, the doubts. In many ways this facet of the book, hearing what his experiences were like throughout his life (and this aspect of his experience stretches from his first awareness of his difference right up to the present), provides the most insight. For it serves to remind readers to treat other people as people. Noticeable differences may arouse curiosity or provide easy fodder for conversation, but that doesn't mean the other person wants to be defined by them. A second facet of the book that caught my interest was the idea of pursuing a passion and finding a place. Jim found baseball as his way to prove his sameness. Even with his missing hand, baseball was the great leveler. His performance dictated how people perceived him. It also helped him to shape his identity apart from his hand. Now you or I may not have the same issues with disabilities to overcome, but we all need to pursue a passion. This doesn't necessarily mean being defined by our jobs, but it does mean seeking a place, a fit, a calling. And in Jim Abbott's case, this calling may bring with it unexpected things, such as the role he played in the lives of countless disabled children who looked to his success as an inspiration to pursue their own. Jim persistently dedicated time to meeting kids and families touched by disability, even amid the relentless schedule of professional baseball, because he realized that even if he wasn't trying to be a role model or achieve on behalf of others, he was.

The book is the intertwining of this story, of baseball and of life. Abbott and Brown alternate between an inning-by-inning account of Abbott's crowning achievement on the baseball field, a no-hitter for the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, with this tale of discouragement, aspiration, and achievement. It makes for a good baseball story, and it has insights to lend, even to those with no interest in that particular game.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine program and Ballantine Books for the review copy.

P. D. James, Devices and Desires

This twenty-year-old novel proves once again that P. D. James is truly a master of the mystery genre. In this installment of the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series, her protagonist finds himself on England's sparsely populated headlands to attend to matters of his deceased aunt's estate. Meanwhile England's latest serial killer is on the loose. And his latest victim is an employee at the near-by nuclear power plant that dominates the headland. Though Dalgliesh is off-duty while out in the country, his proximity to events, and his discovery of what seems like the latest victim while walking along the beach involves him in the mysterious events.

This book, like all of James's mysteries, is filled with well-developed characters that give verisimilitude to her stories, that give real humanity to the victims, to those touched by the killings, and even to the suspects. This serves both to give depth to the narrative and to heighten the tension of the mystery, as it makes suspects more interesting but also keeps you guessing as to who the real perpetrator may be. Devices and Desires also contains some great dialogue that probes deeper issues, such as the detective's relationship to death, or the possible continuing relevance of the category of sin, or the possibility of justice in a world full of twisted devices and desires that enmesh our lives.

This mystery does not disappoint. It is well written, thoughtfull, and entertaining, and comes to a satisfying conclusion. I highly recommend it.

P. D. James, Death Comes to Pemberley

I think this book is an absolute literary triumph. In her latest novel, the venerable P. D. James weds her immense skill in crafting character-driven mysteries with her own passion for Jane Austen. She picks up six years after Pride and Prejudice leaves off (spoiler alert for those of you who haven't yet gotten to that classic--which you should, by the way; you will here learn how some of the relationships resolve in that earlier work), focusing on the home of Elizabeth and Darcy. But tragedy strikes on the eve of Pemberley's grand ball, and Elizabeth's brother-in-law Wickham is the suspect. By many twists and turns, we are brought back into the somewhat twisted world of these characters that Jane Austen formed, this time in search of a killer.

I was amazed at how well James is able to pick up the story from Pride and Prejudice. She deftly works her story in a way that seems so natural it was often hard to recall as I was reading whether events she referred to were in her work or in Austen's original. And I think she picked up on the perfect "seam" from P&P, with the tenuous entrance of Wickham into the Bennet family with all of the past baggage and conflict that he brought to that first story but which was left unresolved at the end. After reading Death Comes to Pemberley, it almost feels as if P&P is incomplete without James's masterful extension. This homage fit seamlessly with the original for me, and I loved it.

John Sanford, Wicked Prey

Lucas Davenport is a complex hero. And Wicked Prey is another in Sanford's series centered around this Minnesota detective. Also figuring prominently in this book is Lucas's soon-to-be adopted child Letty, whom he came upon in an earlier novel (Naked Prey) in her own tragic situation, and who proves to be a strong, or at least interesting, though maybe somewhat implausible, protagonist as well. The two of them find themselves (mostly without the other's knowledge) caught up in a complex plot surrounding some brutal attacks during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in 2008. Letty has been targeted for retribution by one of Davenport's old foes. But she improbably befriends the hooker who is caught up with the small-time criminal, and thereby weaves herself into an interesting situation. Lucas, meanwhile, is tasked to investigate brutal attacks on two big-time money men who are making off-the-books cash contributions to various political players on behalf of interested parties. This makes for an action-packed adventure for Davenport and his crew, as they chase down the leads and all the while try to figure out why the attackers seem to be hanging around. Is some bigger job in the offing?

This book moves at an almost frantic pace that carries the reader along into a world of violence, dirty politics (on both sides of the aisle), and jigsaw-like detective work. It is a solid detective novel with a colorful and imperfect hero. Sandford certainly conveys the roughness of his character, and of the underworld he investigates, and while this does lend some verisimilitude to the book, it is at least worth noting.

Tony Reinke, Lit!

"A wide gap separates a reader who simply consumes books from a reader who diligently seeks wisdom" (178). In this thoughtful and practical book, Tony Reinke argues for the value of reading as a Christian discipline, and helps encourage readers to develop wise reading habits. It is a book in two parts, the first being a "theology of reading," the second being a collection of practical advice for becoming better readers.

The foundation of Lit! is the contention that God's illumination can come to us through books, and that truth and beauty are gifts of God that can be reflected in Christian and non-Christian books alike. But equally as foundational is that God's truth is most fully embodied in Scripture, and all other reading that we do must be filtered through the truth of Scripture. "We must be determined to read the imperfect in light of the perfect, the deficient in light of the sufficient, the temporary in light of the eternal, the groveling in light of the transcendent" (28). This means we must always be on the lookout for an author's worldview and the truths she or he is implicitly or explicitly conveying, even as we also seek out the beauty of God's truth, which can be expressed in unexpected places or ways. This means that, once we've developed a foundational knowledge of Scripture and the worldview it builds, we should be eager but discerning as we seek out the illumination of truth wherever it may be found, even in non-Christian works which may have important insights or perspectives to lend.

The second major section of Lit! is a practical guide to reading, both for those who are not already readers and for those who are. Reinke gives advice on what to read, as well as on how. The advice tends to be very practical, and really emphasizes that reading should be intentional. We should be thoughtful in the books we choose, and deliberate in the way we read. One of the nuggets I helpfully gleaned from him is that we shouldn't hesitate to drop a book part way through, or only read selectively, if that best suits our purpose or if we are finding that it isn't worthwhile. So many of his other suggestions comport well with my own discoveries and habits as I have developed as a reader, such as marking in your books (I highly recommend marking in your books, and Reinke makes a good argument for why, as well as describing how he chooses to do it), reading multiple books at once, and reading reviews, for instance. He also helpfully discusses how the internet is effecting our reading habits and our ability to concentrate, something I worry about with myself and even more for my children, calling us back to the development of sustained concentration.

I loved this book. As a passionate reader, this book resonates with my reading heart. For those of you who already share this passion for reading, this book can help provide both practical advice for honing your skills as well as helpful theological context in which to place your reading. And it is just simply a pleasure to read a book that extols the virtues of something you love. But this book is also for those who don't read, and who don't really want to. He makes good, simple arguments for why and how people who don't have interest, time, or enough perceived ability can and should begin to develop this most important and nourishing habit. There may have been one or two places where I didn't particularly agree with his advice (one specific instance comes when he encourages readers to write questions you want answered in the front cover before reading it, which is fine, but he then asserts that one way to find holes in the authors arguments is by seeing if he answers your questions; while I agree that we should read critically and curiously, and that we should look for holes in the author's arguments or logic, the fact that the author doesn't answer the questions we asked at the outset may reflect more the author's purpose than a failure of argument). In all, I warmly commend this outstanding little book. It is well written, thoughtful, and readily applicable. It will ignite or deepen a love of reading.

John Grisham, The Confession

Grisham spins great tales with believable characters and gripping legal plots. He's done it again in this book. Keith Schroeder is a Lutheran pastor in a small Kansas town. One day, a haggard character comes to his office with a load on his mind, a confession to make. It involves information that could exonerate a young man who is only 3 days away from execution in Texas. The clock is running, and Keith is catapulted into a rush to save an innocent man. This great read is in the mold of Grisham's earlier book, The Chamber, and he again brings readers face to face with the death penalty and its perils (see also his great non-fiction book, The Innocent Man, if you want to see that he's not sensationalizing). Another Grisham success; I enjoyed reading it and was left thinking. Don't miss it.