One thing that keeps book reviewing an interesting task is the sheer variety of the books I am privileged to read. In the past month I’ve read biographies, theology and devotionals. I’ve read about marketing the church, reclaiming the church and new ways of doing church. And now I’ve read about singlehood, admittedly a topic I know little about. Because my wife and I began dating when I was eighteen and we married when I was twenty-one, I have difficulty relating to the situations of men and women who find themselves single or single again in their late twenties, early thirties and beyond. Because of this I assumed that Single Servings by Lee Warren would have little to offer me. But it turns out that I was wrong.

Single Servings is a devotional book targetted at single adults. Author Lee Warren ministers to singles as a columnist for Christianity Online. He has been published in several other publications and often travels to speaking engagements. He is well-qualified to write a book to challenge and encourage other singles.

It is always big news when a new book is released under John Piper’s name. Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, while listing Piper as a co-editor, contains only a few pages of Piper’s writing, with the rest being written by eleven other authors. The book is divided into five parts and eleven chapters. Allow me to provide a brief overview of each of these.

Let me be honest up-front. I did not finish this book. I believe it is only the second book, of the 100+ I have reviewed, that I did not complete. I read the first several chapters and was so disgusted by what I was reading that I elected to merely skim the remainder of the book. After all, I’m a busy guy and have an entire shelf of unread books awaiting my attention. Why would I want to waste my time on what is, unfortunately, complete trash?

Escaping The Matrix by Gregory Boyd and Al Larson is, according to the cover, a guide to “setting your mind free to experience real life in Christ.” The reality is that unless Christ requires that we use the latest in pseudo-occult psychological techniques to free our minds, this book will do nothing of the sort. Indeed it cannot, because much of the teaching of this book directly contradicts the Scripture.

I can’t deny that was a little apprehensive about this book before I began it, even though I had not read any detailed reviews and had little idea of the content. Just a few days before I began reading I had seem an interview with the author, Donald Miller, in “The Door Magazine” in which he had been terribly sarcastic and quite crude (judging by the number of words that had to be “blanked” out). It left me with an impression of the author that was not altogether favorable.

When I read and review a book I attempt to do so as objectively as possible. After all, each book should be taken on its own merits. It is not entirely fair to cast presuppositions gained from previous books onto an author’s later works. It is not unusual for an author to come to better or worse understandings as his life progresses. A person whose theology once seemed rock-solid, could, unfortunately, write a book later in life that seemed to be anything but orthodox. I say this to preface my review to John Eldredge’s latest book, Captivating. I attempted to be as objective as possible when reading the book, but found it to be nearly impossible. The book was clearly designed to ride the wave of Eldredge’s previous success, and most notably his best-seller Wild at Heart. Wild at Heart is mentioned on the front cover (“Best-Selling Author of Wild at Heart”) and the back (“What Wild at Heart did for men Captivating will do for you”). It was mentioned again in the second sentence of the introduction and was often quoted, even at length, throughout the book (as was The Sacred Romance).

I have never much enjoyed art galleries. This may be a little-known fact, but I am color-blind, and I’m sure this explains why art has never had much appeal to me. After all, if I see reds, greens and browns all as shades of brown, surely art is far less appealing to me than to those whose eyes work as they were meant to. But I remember one time when I was a teenager, my family travelled to Washington, D.C. with my aunt and uncle, both of whom are artists. Walking with them through the National Gallery brought about an entirely different perspective. Because they understood art, they were able to explain it to me in a way I had never considered. They showed me variations in texture, spoke about the difficulty of different types of shadowing and lighting, and the different media artists use. It opened my eyes, and in that period of time I came to understand and appreciate art so much more deeply than I had before, despite my limitations.

From the time we are mere children we face the question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” The desire and ability to work are deeply ingrained within us, but perhaps they are subjects we do not often pause to consider in a Scriptural perspective. Work Excellence is a light treatment of the subject(112 pages), but one that is valuable. It is conversational in tone and each chapter concludes with questions for reflection and a brief prayer. The book is written by Chuck Garriott, who for over twenty years was pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Oklahoma City and whose ministry has taken him around the world. He examines this essential aspect of our lives - one that is discussed in detail throughout the Scripture, and provides a biblical perspective on work excellence.

All that glitters is not gold. This is a lesson many thousands of men learned in the 19th century when they stormed California seeking their fortunes. While there was treasure to be found, as evidenced by the wealth many gained from their mining ventures, there was also what came to be known as fool’s gold. While this looked like gold, it was in reality valueless iron pyrite. For a miner to be successful he had to learn to discern the true gold from mere fool’s gold. A man’s livelihood depended on this. Because it was difficult to tell one from the other only by looking at it, miners develped some simple tests. One was the hardness test, where a miner could bite a rock in question. Fool’s gold was hard while real gold was much softer. A broken tooth would prove the rock to be fool’s gold. For a second test a miner would scrape the rock against a white stone. True gold would leave a yellowish streak while fool’s gold would leave one that was greenish-black. This is the historical backdrop against which John MacArthur and the staff of Grace Community Church compare today’s church.

Pursuing God - A Seeker’s Guide is a book for those who are drawn to God and yearn to understand more about Him. Intended as a tool for evangelism, it is written in a warn and conversational style. Over sixty pages, author Jim Elliff, president of Christian Communicators Worldwide, leads the reader through the all-important questions and answers in what is a clear and biblical presentation of the gospel.

Brian Flynn is the founder and director of One Truth Ministries and leads “Now Age” seminars before churches and groups around the United States. But long before he felt such love and concern for the church, he was a psychic medium who hated Christianity with every fiber of his being. Running Against The Wind is the story of his radical transformation.