Monday, August 30, 2010

three books: Forgotten God, Paradox of Choice, Seabiscuit

Francis Chan's Forgotten God is a cousin of his more famous book, Crazy Love. FG is a light read on a very important topic: Holy Spirit. For those who are already familiar with what the Bible says about Holy Spirit, there is little new, but it's a nice review. If you're not familiar with the topic, I'd recommend two stronger books: Watchman Nee's Normal Christian Life or Ian Thomas' Saving Life of Christ. For believers who are unfamiliar with this topic, any of these books can awaken, inform, and empower.

David Schwartz's The Paradox of Choice is another easy read-- a provocative look at the intersection of economics and psychology. From another angle, it is an exploration of the limits of standard economic modeling of choice and mutually beneficial trade. Schwartz extends the important concepts of search and transaction costs-- to recognize that more choice can, in fact, be harmful. This is especially true in some contexts and for some types of people. If you're interested in the social science aspects of economics-- or on a personal level, if you find more choices to be frustrating-- then I would strongly recommend this book.

Finally, I really enjoyed Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit. I didn't expect much from a book about a horse and horse racing. But it was fun to read, especially in its character development (two jockeys, owner, trainer, and a few horses); informative and accessible to a layperson (I don't know dink about horses); effective at putting you into the historical context of the story; and even tense at times (as you were rooting for the horse or the people in the story). I haven't seen the movie yet, but am looking forward to that too!

What did you think of these three?

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