Review: Money: Physics and Distributive Justice

Available at Amazon. Money: Physics and Distributive Justice by Oded Kafri
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“GIVE me a one-handed economist,” demanded president Truman. “All my economists say, ‘on the one hand...on the other'”. This book is not like that as it takes a stand, I am just not sure where the stand is.

I received a review copy of this book, what follows is an honest review.

I thought that the college classes I had taken in micro and macro economics and physics would have prepared me for this book. I think I came out a little bit more confused then when I went in.

I am not sure where the author was going with this. At times it read like a textbook. At times it read like a series of blog posts. Sometimes he seemed to be talking about politics, other times it was deep into the subject. At places he said, if this confuses you do not read it. Then he turns around and develops off of that.

If you have a strong background in physics, not the entry level kind, this book might make a little bit more sense to you that it did to me. In which case, you might enjoy it. I am not sure who else I could recommend it to.

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Review: Graciousness: Tempering Truth with Love

Graciousness: Tempering Truth with Love by John Crotts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
I was not sure How much I would like this book. I liked the topic but then I read it was by a gentleman from the reformed branch of Christianity. Most of the people who identify themselves as reformed tend to be rigid in their thinking, I was seriously questioning if I could agree with this man at all.

I was pleasantly surprised to find he felt a lot like I did. We may be in the right, but our actions make us in the wrong when it comes to christian actions. The author does not tell us to abandon our beliefs. He tells us to act in love to each other. While this is important to do to all, it is important to the unbeliever as well.

While the author and I will most likely' agree on theology, we can agree that the love walk is important.

I would recommend this book to all Christians as a wake up Call to the way we look to the world when we fight and bicker.

I received an advanced copy of this book. This is an honest review.

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Review: Mageborn: A Seven Stars Novel

Mageborn: A Seven Stars Novel by Dayne Edmondson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
The author provided me an ARC copy. I am providing an honest review.

Mageborn is a bit away from the normal fare that I read, but one does have to broaden their horizons. It opens with an event from the past that would appear to have an influence on the story as we read it. Other than to introduce younger versions of some of the characters we later meet, it kind of confused me. When we get to the story proper everything started to mesh and the story progressed nicely.

We have a young lady and her brother, Emma and Ethan, who at a later age than normal (16) develop magic, and in the process, scare the town to death. Their parents think that it would be a good idea to send them off for training, even though most children have had training since 10. Off they go for the training, but they are delayed along the way as people who are against them attack and in great numbers.

An interesting feature is that some of the people in the story talk of things the others do not understand. It leads me to believe that somehow they were dropped into this world and are making the best of it.

Characters that are prominent to the story seem to be well developed. This is especially true for Emma as we tend to see the story from her eyes.

It is a YA book but I think anyone who would like fantasy books would enjoy this story. There are large amounts of death in the story, mostly of an impersonal nature, and how it affects the people in the story is a minor point of the story. If deaths are not your cup of tea, then you might not enjoy it. They are not gory, just needed to advance the story. Age range would be teenager to adult as my suggestion. I did enjoy it.

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Review: Dark Origins: Herr Graden: Book 1: A Short Story

Dark Origins: Herr Graden: Book 1: A Short Story by Bill Hargenrader
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
I was given an advance copy of "Master of My Fate" by Bill Hargenrader, which is part of this collection.

Excellent story of a young boy who could have gone on to be someone great and helped mankind, but because of an unfortunate set of circumstances, goes on to be great, but with evil in his heart. Having read the Mars Journey series I knew where the little boy would wind up. Mr. Hargenrader still makes an excellent story of how that boy turns into the man he is now.

Any age should be able to read. Children would not really be interested in it in my opinion.

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Review: The Dean Died Over Winter Break

The Dean Died Over Winter Break by Christopher Lansdown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
I was quite surprised at just how entertaining this book was. The premise of the series is that of consulting detective who happen to be Franciscan Friar (not a monk). They are called upon in this book to look into a murder at a university campus. On the night of a snowstorm, in his office, and with a window left open to cover the time of death. The dean has quite a few enemies all of which have opportunity.

There guide around the Camus and town is a college secretary with a doctorate. She is the source of a lot of discussion that has to deal with philosophy. That is what makes the book interesting to me. I have never really read a book that seems to combine the two elements so we'll.

The book is safe for all ages as far as I am concerned. There is a murder of course, but the body is gone before we get there. While I enjoyed the Brothers, it seems a shame for such great character development with the secretary only to never see her again. I do hope the author has plans for her again.

Good clean mystery. Recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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