I’m a huge fan of online book shopping, and have been ever since I discovered that by surfing Amazon I could prevent my college book store from ripping me off to the tune of $100-200 a semester…a trend that continued in seminary. Tuition is enough of a donation, right?
However, when someone gives me a gift card to Barnes & Noble or Borders, I can easily get lost in there for a couple hours. Yesterday I found myself on the plaza with some downtime on my hands, so I hit up the local B&N. I walked out with a couple books that should make for some great reading.
Agincourt. One of the great come-from-behind victories in history gets a gritty fictional treatment from Bernard Cornwell in this new bestseller. How did the British underdogs pull off an amazing W against the French at Agincourt? Well, you can read Shakespeare’s Henry V (possibly my favorite Shakespeare play), watch Kenneth Branagh’s great film version, check a history book…or read this one. Cornwell embellishes his character’s backstory, but the historical data is for real. Probably not for the faint of heart though. If Finding Private Ryan, Gladiator or Braveheart made you gag, don’t pick this one up. Medieval warfare was nasty.
Orthodoxy. I’ve read and raved about G.K. Chesterton’s superb book before. But this is a book you re-read…and own multiple copies of. I’ve been coveting this hardback, large print, wide-margin edition for a couple years, so when I spotted it, I went ahead and grabbed the only copy I found in the store. If you haven’t yet read this one, expect adventure, humor, biting dialogue, romance, suspense…and all this in a “theology” book. C.S. Lewis comes the closest, but probably no one will ever match Chesterton’s passionate knack for revealing the bright, terrifying, stunning reality in which we live.
Bought any good books lately?
Cross-posted on arieljvan.com.
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