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Book Review: From Achilles to Christ

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From Achilles to Christ by Louis A. Markos

From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics
by Louis A. Markos

5 out of 5 stars

Christians can look back on the pagan classics from Homer and Virgil and see the universal human longing for a Savior. As Achilles and Odysseus struggle through their heroic adventures, the Christian can draw parallels to Christ’s own heroic deeds, finding the completion of every myth in the person of Christ. In the Bible, God often uses pagan kings to reveal His truth and further His kingdom. The truth of Christ can be found reflected in all of creation and especially in the greatest creative literature of the ancient world.
The author says that “…the great, overarching symbols of literature can function as they do only because history and the universe are inherently meaningful and moving toward a purposeful end.”pg. 133
The pre-Christian myths of the Greeks and Romans include the same symbols and themes that are present in the Bible, and which find their final fruition in Christ.

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Book Review: The Bookshop Book

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The Bookshop by Evan Friss

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
by Evan Friss (Goodreads Author)

3 out of 5 stars

Throughout American history, the books we read have shaped our culture, politics, and collective imagination. This book gives a broad overview of the history of bookstores in the USA, as well as anecdotes and close looks at the rise and fall of different types of bookstores. We meet the individual booksellers, and learn what inspired them to start their book business. We get a snapshot of the interior of a bookshop and the general mood and ambience of the place. We learn what purpose each bookstore has, whether focused on revenue, politics, personal expression, or community values. And we follow the dramatic stories of bookstores struggling to stay afloat, fighting against bureaucracy and unfair laws, and serving as meeting places for people of many varied creeds. Every bookstore has a place in history and maybe… in our hearts.

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Book Review: Dickens’ Fur Coat and Charlotte’s Unanswered Letters

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Dickens' Fur Coat and Charlotte's Unanswered Letters by Daniel Pool

Dickens’ Fur Coat and Charlotte’s Unanswered Letters: The Rows and Romances of England’s Great Victorian Novelists
by Daniel Pool

3 out of 5 stars

I liked reading about how the Victorian novel rose to prominence and the different literary trends that came and went during the Victorian era. It was interesting to learn more about some of my favorite authors.
However, the book just drags on and on with really dry writing that made it hard to concentrate, and the sentences are so convoluted and long that it was difficult to follow sometimes.

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Non Fiction Review: Transported

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Transported by Matt Ralphs

Transported: 50 Vehicles That Changed the World
by Matt Ralphs, Rui Ricardo (Illustrations)

4 out of 5 stars

This book gives information about 50 amazing vehicles, including boats, cars, planes, motorcycles, chariots, wagons, rockets, and bicycles. It’s really amazing to see how history has changed over the centuries and especially in the last one hundred years just because of mankind’s ability to travel.

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Non Fiction Book: A History of the World in 25 Cities

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A History of the World in 25 Cities by Tracey Turner

A History of the World in 25 Cities (British Museum)
by Tracey Turner, Andrew Donkin, Libby VanderPloeg (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

This book goes through history, giving information about different cities around the world at their height. We start with Jericho and end with Tokyo. There are ancient cities that now lie in ruins, old cities that kept getting renewed and rebuilt through the centuries, and modern cities that are comparatively young.

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Non Fiction Book Review: Bandersnatch

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Bandersnatch by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings
by Diana Pavlac Glyer (Goodreads Author), James A. Owen  (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

This book analyzes the inner workings of the writing group, The Inklings, showing specific examples of how they encouraged and influenced each other’s writing. We learn about Lewis’ and Tolkien’s individual writing styles, and how their group read aloud portions of their writing. The process of writing, revising, and editing was intimately connected with the influence of the Inklings, despite Lewis famously saying that it was impossible to influence Tolkien: “…you might as well try to influence a bandersnatch.” This book proves Lewis wrong, giving specific examples of times when Tolkien took criticism from the Inklings very seriously and altered major sections of his writing accordingly.

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Non Fiction Review: Gazing at the Night Sky

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Gazing at the Night Sky by Bruce Wilson Jr.

Gazing at the Night Sky: 5,000 Year of Humanity’s Quest to Find Our Place in the Universe
by Bruce Wilson Jr.

4 out of 5 stars

People have been staring at the stars for millennia, marveling at the beauties of the night sky. This book explores how ancient peoples attached meaning to the stars, developed superstitions around horoscopes to gain a sense of control in their world, and studied science and mathematics to understand how the solar system works. The stars have influenced artists and photographers. Today we have a vast amount of information from space probes that tell us about our solar system. From Aristotle to Armstrong, the stars inspire us to keep looking up.

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Non Fiction Review: The Ocean Blue

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The Ocean Blue by Bruce Wilson Jr.

The Ocean Blue: A History of Maritime Trade, Naval Warfare, and Exploration
by Bruce Wilson Jr.

4 out of 5 stars

The oceans of the globe both connect and separate the world. Seafaring cultures have shaped the landscape of history. Battles at sea have defined warfare for millennia. The ocean influences art, music, literature, and architecture. This book explores all the ways that the ocean has shaped our history from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to the modern day.

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Book Review: One Day at a Time

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One Day at a Time by Bruce Wilson Jr.

One Day at a Time: 365 Innovations, Discoveries, and Triumphs in World History
by Bruce Wilson Jr.

4 out of 5 stars

History is a deep well of wild facts and weird stories. This book presents 365 amazing events in history that still shape our world today. We begin with the first known writing from 3100 BC and travel through history all the way to 2019 when scientists were able to take the first photograph of a black hole. This book includes artists, scientists, royals, politicians, engineers, musicians, doctors, and ordinary people who did extraordinary things.

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Non Fiction Review: Master American History in 1 Minute a Day

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Master American History in 1 Minute A Day by Dan Roberts

Master American History in 1 Minute A Day
by Dan Roberts

3 out of 5 stars

In one page snippets, you can learn about American history from Christopher Columbus to President Biden. The book is divided into sections about exploration, colonization, the American Revolution, nationalization, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution, economic struggle and the World Wars, and the “era of social and economic advance”, finishing up by calling recent history “the era of reaction, social struggle, and political contention.”

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