Friday, June 19, 2015

Time After Time

by Karl Alexander

In 1893, H.G. Wells builds a time machine. Jack the Ripper steals it and travels to 1979 San Francisco. Wells then feels obliged to follow and bring the escaped killer to justice. It's a dumb concept, but Mr. Alexander makes an entertaining tale of it. He paints a believable picture of a temporal cross-cultural experience as Wells (and to a lesser extent, Jack) attempts to traverse 1979 San Francisco, fraught with 1893 Victorian assumptions and biases.

keeping it on my shelf
LibraryThing link

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Friday, June 12, 2015

Pastrix

by Nadia Bolz-Weber

I was a bit slow in picking up this tome. Pastor Bolz-Weber has been frequently--and favorably--mentioned over at the Mockingbird blog for a while now. She sounded intriguing the first few times I heard about her, but I, I was not going to jump on the bandwagon. No siree. Let the fads have their day and pass, I say. I'll just carry on with my own business. But Mockingbird didn't let up on their praise of her and sometimes I just have to succumb to curiosity. Even though I figured I would have issues with her theology, I decided to check out her book.

The first thing I discovered is that I like Pastor Bolz-Weber. I liked her from the very first word.* She's snarky, down to earth, and has an incredible understanding of grace--from our own brokenness and unworthiness to the immense love of God that reaches down to the muck and calls our name. Other than that, the book is very much like any other missionary biography--a collection of anecdotes recounting how God has been at work in and through her life. So while I do have quibbles with Pastor Bolz-Weber's theology, I'm very glad I let my curiosity guide me to her book.
__________
*It's a word I would probably never use in church, but end up uttering all the time during frustrating moments at work and in my car.

LibraryThing link

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Friday, June 05, 2015

The Time Patrol

by Poul Anderson

This one's a collection of time travel tales featuring Manse Everard, agent of the Time Patrol. It's an unremarkable concept, but the stories stand out in that Mr. Anderson avoids all the temporal tourist traps: No Civil War. Nary a Nazi in sight. Manse does visit the Roman Empire, but it's out at the fringes of the Empire. All-in-all, a pleasant collection of tales.

On my time-travel shelf
LibraryThing link

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