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Tim Keller's new book, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters goes on sale today. From the excepts I've read it's pretty convicting. Here's a video of Keller's explanation of why he wrote the book:

And of course Challies already has his book review up.

I was bummed they didn't publish a Kindle version. I like the speed at which I can get the book on my Kindle, instantly! Does make impulse buying much more convenient :-)

You can get the John Piper and Justin Taylor compilation, The Power of Words and the Wonder of God for free here (and only 7.99 for the Kindle edition). It's a compilation of various authors (Paul Tripp, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Sinclair Ferguson, Daniel Taylor, Bob Kauflin) each writing a chapter examining "the life-altering power of our words and their impact in sharing the gospel."

I guess we can agree that we all could use help thinking about what we say (well, I'm sure we could whole-heartedly agree that I do :-) I think I'll add it to my early morning reading time (up at 6:00 today but will be pushing it back to 5:30 tomorrow morning -- I read John 2).

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Ralph Nader has written a novel! And it sounds pretty wacky as only a Nader utopian society could be:

Ralph Nader has written a novel. Well, he doesn't call it a novel--he calls it "a practical utopia." In it, he spins a fictional vision of what might happen if the country's super-rich got together with assorted influential people and worked to transform American culture and politics into something more to Ralph Nader's liking.

In Mr. Nader's tale, billionaire investor Warren Buffett is so dismayed by the ineffectual and chaotic government reaction to Hurricane Katrina that he hatches a plan to "redirect" American society. He summons a brace of moguls--Ted Turner, Barry Diller, Ross Perot and George Soros, among others--to a secret Maui location, along with such celebrities as Bill Cosby, Yoko Ono and Warren Beatty. As they confer together, they find that they all--surprise! --agree that Something Must Be Done.

Make sure you go read the rest of the article to get the full sense of the novel :-)

Evidently, the Amazon reviewers (all 5 of them) loved it an gave it 5 stars.

Here's an article listing Dan Brown's twenty worst sentences from his various publications (which include five books). Since I live in a glass house, I'm not casting any stones :-) but it was fun read.

When I was still working in the tech industry after my oldest was born, I had a conversation with my boss who thought our kids would be the first generation who would break their dependence on books and would read everything on their computers. They would be the first truly digital generation. I doubted it at the time since I knew we couldn't shake our dependence on the feel of books. We like how books feel in our hands. We like the smell, the cover art. It's part of the whole reading experience and one we can't shake. I also discounted it because computers weren't as portable then (the bathroom reading experience is an important factor in all this :-).

And even though we can now take our computers (in the form of smart phones, Palms, and iPhones/iTouch) into the bathroom, we still cling to our books. My daughter has been on a computer since she was a toddler, she's had a laptop all of her high school years and when each of use got an iTouch
I tried to interest her in the books she could read with the Kindle app but she doesn't like to read digital novels! She likes the feel of the book in her hands. So much for the digital generation. Maybe she's a throwback but I suspect that many of us still like to hold our books in our hands, feeling the smoothness of the paper as we turn the pages (it is a sensual experience, one that's not easily duplicated by e-books, though I do like the feel of the screen as I flick the pages of my Kindle app -- see, they had to keep the flicking aspect of books, it's part of the reading experience, it's much more natural than scrolling). We still like to walk the aisles of the bookstore looking for new books in our favorite categories or going to the library and pursuing the new fiction and nonfiction section. That's why I wouldn't be too interested in this school for my kids:

And to replace those old pulpy devices that have transmitted information since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1400s, they have spent $10,000 to buy 18 electronic readers made by Amazon.com and Sony. Administrators plan to distribute the readers, which they're stocking with digital material, to students looking to spend more time with literature.

Those who don't have access to the electronic readers will be expected to do their research and peruse many assigned texts on their computers.

"Instead of a traditional library with 20,000 books, we're building a virtual library where students will have access to millions of books,'' said Tracy, whose office shelves remain lined with books. "We see this as a model for the 21st-century school.''

Notice the implied criticism of Tracy's lack of commitment to his own vision of the digital age, even he can't give up his books. Trying to sweep away a tradition that we are all still clinging to,even the most forward thinking of us, strikes me as a foolish use of funds. I wouldn't want them wasting my tuition money when they realize that they really do need those books that they discarded.

I hope this trend doesn't go too far the way it did with newspapers and magazines. I like to be the one to determine which form my book takes. Whether I choose to read one on my iTouch using the Kindle app or whether I buy a published book. I suspect that with biblical study books, I'm going to want the books published the old fashioned way but with novels, either form works for me. Sometimes I buy a novel in paperback and sometimes I buy it on Amazon for the Kindle app on my iTouch.

I like having more choices. Buying the newest from James Rollins for $9.99 on the Kindle (his publisher did the best job of any of the books I've read on Kindle so far, excellent use of the various features of Kindle, they really made it easy to read on the iTouch), as opposed to waiting my turn at the library or waiting for the paperback edition. Or buying the paperback version of The Reason for God (I already have the audio, see what kind of pull the printed word still has) and The Family because there was a buy 1 get 1 for half off sale at Borders. I can buy whatever medium works for me at the time (though, I'm pretty ticked that I'm not going to be able to get the third book in John Twelve Hawks' Fourth Realm Trilogy the third book in John Twelve Hawks' Fourth Realm Trilogy for $9.99 on Kindle, it costs $14.27, I'm going to wait a couple weeks to see if it comes down like I did with The Doomsday Key). Especially, when I can get a brand new hardcover, The Lost Symbol, delivered to my iTouch on the day it goes on sale, for the price of a paper. How much more convenient can you get?

BTW, here's a link to the paper, "Hamlet's Blackberry: Why Paper Is Eternal," mentioned in the article.

You can pre-order the Kindle edition from Amazon for $9.99. They promise to send it "while you sleep," you'll get it in the morning of the 15th. Sounded like a good deal, so I decided to pre-order it. Even though...

And organic milk, Whole Foods and even Mini Coopers (yes, I'm thinking that it might be my next car -- preferably the nightfire red). What's this confession all about? Well, apparently, Glenn Beck freaked out the lefties by being...

You can preorder COLLISION: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson, the debate documentary from Amazon for $13.99. It's set to be released on October 27, 2009. For those of you who were in a bubble and don't know about the debates,...

I know I shouldn't, but I'm going to buy it, unfortunately I don't have enough iTunes money to do it tonight (I've been buying songs for the iTouch). We have a hard copy but I think it would be very...

Some scenes from the coming season opener of "House" Looking forward to September to see what happens to House in the asylum. I started watching at the end of season 4. At the beginning of the summer, I went back...

Debate between the author of "The Evolution of God">The Evolution of God," Robert Wright and John Mark Reynolds who has written "When Athens Met Jerusalem: An Introduction to Classical and Christian Thought">When Athens Met Jerusalem: An Introduction to Classical and...

Here's a great resource for those of you who've always wanted to go to seminary but didn't have the time or money to invest (it takes a lot of both). There are some real gems there including Gaffin's Theology of...

CatechizeMe is a useful tool that helps you learn/memorize the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms and the Heidelberg Catechism. It will be coming soon to the iPhone (they're looking for beta testers) and they also have a Google widget which...

I'm pretty surprised that P&R published a novel about John Calvin, seems a little weird since Calvin very rarely wrote about himself (unlike Luther who wrote about himself a lot) but it is timely given the fact that it's Calvin's...

Here's a very interesting exchange between Robert Wright and Ann Althouse discussing his new book,The Evolution of God. Althouse asks some very penetrating questions of Wright: I think she's convinced me to read the book. I had originally dismissed the...

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That's the title of Paul David Tripp's new book, it's 52 meditations on Psalm 27. Here's a video promoting the book which is one of the best book promotion videos I've seen. It convinced my to buy it. I should...

Looks like the Vatican is ready to fight against Obama and Catholics who support the FOCA.The possible signing of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) by President-Elect Barack Obama would be "the equivalent of a war" an unnamed senior Vatican...

By quite a large margin. Even though it's been widely publicized it has only sold 2,737 copies. Evidently she didn't know her power was limited in selling books :-) BTW, it's a sad day when a book that sells only...

N.T. Wright talking about Surprised by Hope Not the best environment to explain a complicated subject like the new creation and the already/not yet aspect of salvation: (via) Most people think that heaven is our final destination, that's not true....

OMH! I never thought he would be on the Internet! He has posted a number of his articles on his website. It's a very valuable resource, go check it out. Also, a festschrift has been published in honor of his...

At Southern Seminary. Justin Taylor has the MP3 files....

Bruce Waltke was recently at Westminster and he gave the chapel message. Here's the link to the audio. Also they recently had a forum on social justice. Here's a link to the archive where you'll find the MP3s from the...

I'm surprised that P. D. James didn't make the list. (via)...

Did you guys know there is going to be a movie of the book, Blue Like Jazz? You'll find a link to an interview with the author here....

I have trouble reading the Psalms, I don't take the time necessary to really get them. So, I was thinking about getting this book. It's pretty cheap only $14.06 at the Westminster Bookstore....

Yes, it certainly looks yummy, doesn't it? But let's see the picture after it's been in there a month or two. I just said, "Cheeseburger in a can" to my husband and his reaction, "Eww!" I think that's the...

Want the opinion of complete strangers concerning the Bible? Then this is your site. (via)...

And they've put up some really neat color photos from the 40's. Here's a sample: "Women workers install fixtures and assemblies to a tail fuselage section of a B-17F bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif." Storefront in...

I just found out that my OTI professor is online! How cool is that. His class was one of the most interesting classes I've ever taken and his insight helped expand my understanding of not only the OT but the...