Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson

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Product Detail ISBN: 0849920078 ISBN-13: 9780849920073 Format: Trade Paper Trim Size: 5.40 x 8.10 x 0.70 Style#: 9780849920073 Page Count: 224 Carton Qty: 36

I got this through Thomas Nelson's Book Review Blogger program.

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl is a short collection of essays on Art, Creation, Life and how the changing seasons can affect your perspective on them. They are written in a frenetic, stream-of-consciousness style that lends the book to a quick read, but does not make it very memorable. There are recurring ideas, Creation as Art with God as Artist,changing seasons,etc but no narrative to tie it all together.

The seasonal imagery in each essay fills some of those gaps, though, giving at least a nod to continuity. Wilson does do imagery well. You can tell that he genuinely sees beauty in the behavior of ants as easily as falling leaves and melting icicles.

I'll Make You An Offer You Can't RefuseInsider Business Tips from a Former Mob BossBy Michael Franzese

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Product Detail ISBN: 1595551638 ISBN-13: 9781595551634 Format: Jacketed Hardcover Trim Size: 5.50 x 8.30 x 0.60 Style#: 9781595551634 Page Count: 224 Carton Qty: 24

I got this through Thomas Nelson's Book Review Blogger program.

In 'I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse' Michael Franzese offers some sage advice on running a business, from a former crime boss's persepctive. It is not so much an instructable on success in business as an explanation of a business philosophy. He explains the mafia's fascination with Machiavelli, contrasting his 'the end justifies the means' approach with Solomon's more tempered advice from Proverbs.

The book is the perfect size for in-flight reading, roughly 6"x8" and only 150 pages. Each chapter is followed by a short summary of what the reader should take away from it. The book is released as a Nelsonfree product, so the ebook and audio versions can be downloaded for free after registering the hardcopy version.

There is probably not much here that someone involved with business has not heard before. But, what sets this book apart is Franzese's perspective as a former crime boss. He draws on his experiences in, and outside, 'the life' to illustrate his points in each chapter, giving application for legitimate business ventures. He offers insight on hard work, integrity, and the real meaning of success, and how that insight has changed since trading the life of a boss in the Colombo Family for the life of a family man and motivational speaker. It is not his advice so much as his ability to contrast business in the crime syndicate with legitimate business and apply what he learned in one to the other that make this book worth the read.

Searching for God Knows What

I read 'Searching for God Knows What' this weekend. In it, Donald Miller argues for a Christianity that is more focused on a relationship with Christ. Too often, in evangelical denominations, the Gospel can be over-simplified, boiled down to a checklist or bullet-points that hit the highlights without conveying the greater story, essentially separating the meaning from the truth.

One theme that runs though the book is that humans' damage from the Fall causes us to seek validation & acceptance from some while denying it to others, constantly vying for a better position in some arbitrary ranking. A true realtionship with Christ allows us to see this raking for what it is: arbitrary and ultimately meaningless. When He was on Earth, Christ accepted and loved the people marginalized by this system and held in comtempt those who'd exploited it.

Like 'Blue Like Jazz' Miller illustrates his points with personal stories and anecdotes drawns from his own experiences. The result is an accessible, but relevant book.

The Art of War

This is actually the second time I've read this book. But, like many books of a philosophical nature, you gain a little more, maybe a little different, insight on each reading. I can't speak to the quality of their translation, as I don't read or speak ancient Chinese. But, while reading the essays and commentary included in the book you get the impression that they have gone to great lengths to preserve the spirit of the original while making it accessible to a modern, English-speaking, reader. This is complex book, but I hope to at least pique your interest enough to seek out a copy for yourself.

Before reading the Art of War,(*spoiler alert*) it may be helpful to know that it isn't about war as most laymen perceive it. Sun Tzu advocates victory by 'taking whole'. Rather than obliterating the enemy, it's people, infrastructure, and resources, wouldn't it be better to win with all of those things intact _and_ on your side? Destroying everything in order to win only insures that you win a desolate state with a resentful populace and a lot of work to be done...a further drain on your resources.

The Art of War is comprised of 13 chapters ,each dealing with a different aspect of war, how that apect fits into the greater picture, and how each can help to achieve the ultimate goal of 'taking whole'. At the heart of taking whole is the ability to recognize, read and interpret shih, the potential in the current configuration of all the disparate pieces that make up now. Are the current circumstances propitient for action? If not, can they be altered to make them so? If not that, can they be altered to make them less advantageous to the enemy?

The idea of victory by taking whole is what has contributed to the Art of War's application to conflict resolution off the battlefield, as well. Lawyers, businesspeople, and generals alike have reflected on it's nuanced wisdom for years. There is definitely application for it in many of life's little grievances, even if only to give one pause to think before you act.