A Bounty of Books

Breaker's Reef by Terri Blackstock is the conclusion to the Cape Refuge quartet. Cape Refuge is a fictional small island off the Georgia coast that has seen an unusual number of major crimes over the couple of years the series chronicles. Breaker's Reef not only covers the last crime, but wraps up the stories of all the major characters.

Those familiar with Blackstock's work will find the Cape Refuge series familiar. It spans Blackstock's standard four books and weaves faith and relationships together with mystery and intrigue. The main characters aren't perfect, but they do show the power of redemption and grace. Fans who have read the rest of the Cape Refuge series should be satisfied with how it is concluded in Breaker's Reef.

These books have been re-released with new covers. In my opinion, the new covers are more visually appealing than the originals. They look cleaner and brighter. Nothing in the text has changed however, so those who read the series when it first came out don't need to read them again.

Anyone who is a fan of mystery novels in general, or those specifically written from a Christian point of view will enjoy not only Breaker's Reef, but the entire Cape Refuge series.

My Battle Against Hitler: Faith, Truth, and Defiance in the Shadow of the Third Reich by Dietrich von Hildebrand and John Henry Crosby is a collection of memoirs and scholarly works by one of the staunchest intellectual opponents of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. Von Hildebrand was a respected Catholic philosopher who taught at the University of Munich. He was such a fierce opponent of Nazism, even before anyone outside of Germany was really paying attention, that he found himself on several Nazi death lists. In fact, his stance led to his having to flee from Germany, and later from Austria, because he was marked for death.

Crosby took memoirs written by von Hildebrand for his second wife, and translated and edited them into somewhat of a narrative style that covers von Hildebrand's life in the 1920s and 1930s. Crosby adds some historical context to von Hildebrand's memoirs, which helps the reader better understand von Hildebrand's words. The first half of the book is taken from von Hildebrand's informal memoirs and is broken down by year, with portions of context preceding each change in subject. The second half of the books is comprised of articles and excerpts of articles von Hildebrand wrote against Nazism and antisemitism. Most of these articles were originally written for Der Christliche Ständestaat (The Christian Corporative State) the journal von Hildebrand headed up while he was in Austria; the stated purpose of this journal was to combat Nazism specifically and nationalism in general on an intellectual level.

I am amazed that I had never heard of Dietrich von Hildebrand before reading this book. He seems to have been such an influential opponent of Hitler and Nazism, that I wonder why he isn't more widely known. I really enjoyed reading about his life in his own words. Crosby did a great job of adding just enough notes and context to make sense of von Hildebrand's words without adding anything unnecessary. He recognizes that von Hildebrand's work is strong enough to stand on its own. The second half wasn't quite as easy to read as the first, as it was written on more of a scholarly, philosophical level. I understood enough to know that he was brilliant and would be a worthy opponent of any ideology he didn't agree with.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII, philosophy, Catholic intellectual life, or Europe in the time between the world wars.

Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence by Karen Armstrong is a scholarly look at the correlation, or lack thereof, of religion and violence from the formation of the first primitive communities through today. Armstrong examines all religions, with a particular focus on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The first part of the book focuses on the formation of organized communities as well as the corresponding religion in various regions of the Eurasian continent. In every community, violence is first seen not when religion comes on the scene, but when people are organized into communities and resources become scarce, or a ruling group raises to the top and wants to keep their power. It was the forming of agricultural communities that allowed for a surplus of food, which allowed a small group from the community to control the surplus and in effect rule everyone else. It was only through violence that a surplus was maintained. Armstrong seems to find no direct correlation between religion and violence. Instead, in each community, both existed and fused and some later point.

Another key point is that religion as we see it now is not how it was viewed through most of history. There was no distinction between the sacred and the secular. All aspects of life were intertwined and therefore, while it may seem to us that there was a causal relationship between religion and violence, the ancient peoples who lived the events would never have seen things that way. The sacred was secular, and the secular sacred; to split the two and say strictly religious motivations, or strictly the competition for resources is what drove violence, would be as foreign a concept to them as the smart phone.

Fields of Blood is a thoroughly researched and well written examination of the topic of religion and violence. It is a scholarly work, and therefore may be a tad difficult to understand for the average man on the street. However, anyone willing to wade through it will undoubtedly learn something. Also, each religion is treated the same, without any of the reverence or acceptance of beliefs as truth that someone who practices that religion may have. This can be somewhat disconcerting for the devout reader. At the same time, being willing to think critically about one's own religion as well as others is a skill that can be useful in discourse and understanding. Armstrong shows no bias for or against any particular religion, so anyone willing to think outside his/her own box will benefit from her examination.

Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

The Berenstain Bears God Shows the Way by Stan and Jan Berenstain with Mike Berenstain has three separate stories involving the Berenstain Bear family and their faith. The three stories included are: Faith Gets Us Through, Do Not Fear, God is Near, and Piggy Bank Blessings. The first two deal with fear and the last one deals with saving money.

Those familiar with the original Berenstain Bears books will find familiar characters on the pages of these three stories. They story lines are similar to those one would find in the original series, though these three stories include elements of Christian faith and Bible verses. All three stories are written on level 1 of the I Can Read! system, which means they are written with "simple sentences for eager new readers."

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the Berenstain Bears characters, or anyone interested in Christian faith based children's stories.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookLook book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Killing Lions: A Guide Theough the Trials Young Men Face by John and Sam Eldredge is the book form of a conversation this father and son pair had with one another over the span of several months. This time period included Sam's transition from the life of a college student to that of a newlywed. These were real questions Sam had and the answers his dad gave him.