Wheaton, IL (May 13, 2010)—Crossway is pleased to announce the new ESV Online. A key part of Crossway’s ESV Digital initiative, the ESV Online is a powerful and convenient tool giving access to the ESV Bible and other resources for understanding and applying God’s Word.

If you haven’t read the ESV or checked out the Study Bible – you’ve really missed out. It is a very nice translation and a beautiful study bible. Click below for all the details!

Crossway.blog » Introducing the New ESV Online!.

Today was the official release date for the new

One of the many reasons I want one is that with your purchase you also receive full access to the online version. The web version also comes with several extras. For a limited time (Matthew only) you can see it in action and use all the features . Read all about it HERE.

Thanks to the terrific and blazingly fast support of the plugin author I was able to get the “gallery in a post” thingie working. See the post below this one.
If you click on one of the pics it will come up larger on the screen as a layer on top of what you were viewing. Underneath this larger pic is a more detailed description of it. When you hover your mouse cursor over the larger picture right and left arrows appear near the edges of the picture. This allows you to click on the arrows to go forward and backwards in the group of pictures. When you reach either end the arrow for that direction does not appear. It’s really simple.

Tech stuff – the two WordPress plugins it takes to make this work are:
PhotoJAR and Lightbox
Thanks again to the PhotoJAR author for the quick and accurate help.

I just completed a fun book. “Crocodile on the Sandbank” by Elizabeth Peters.

It was my first book by Elizabeth Peters. She was recommended by a co-worker who lives in Thailand. Apparently there are over 15 titles in this series. (That should keep me busy for a while!)

It’s all about a lady living in Victorian England who becomes a widow and then strikes out on an adventure. Very readable but with language from the period. An enjoyable & clean (albeit – non-Christian) story. I’d rate it 4 out of 5.

I just finished a who-done-it by a new-to-me author, P.D. James. It received a solid 4 of 5 stars at Amazon so I thought I’d give it a try.

The Lighthouse was interesting but not quite the attention holder that I had hoped it would be. The author spends too much time and energy on details that do not interest me much.

If you like to do crossword puzzles or play scrabble you would probably like it more than I did. She uses an amazing vocabulary!

I give it 3 of 5 stars

Well, let’s see . . .  I’ve polished off a couple of fun reads since the last time I posted a book.

The first was

I am really enjoying this series (even though I am only at the third one of 20+). The writing is light and fast paced. It’s really good for just relaxing and being entertained. This one get a solid 4 stars from me. Next up is “D is for Deadbeat”

After that one I finally got around to reading another Ted Dekker that’s been on the to-be-read shelf for a while (Thanks, Sarah!). Talk about out of the ordinary story lines – this guy is putting them out nowadays. I liked this one better than his last two though. I’d give this one 3 1/2 to 4 out of 5 stars.

Go to the library, check out some good Christian fiction, turn off the TV, and enjoy yourself! 

I finally finished my latest lawyer/court/who-done-it. This was the first I’ve read by Jay Brandon. It wasn’t Christian fiction. It was ok, just a little slower than I like. The characters were well drawn though. I’d give Rules of Evidence 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I was just introduced to a new service for finding book bargains – booksprice.com. I found out about it from another blogger – The Missionary Geek. It is a really good way to find the best price for that book you need to get.

Through that service I found a new source for used books – Better World Books. After you have checked out this unique company click on through to their book store. Shipping is free in the US and only $3 to anywhere else in the world AND the books (used) are really cheap!

If you like books, you’ll love these two services.

I finished a book just before the wedding. A Case of Need was published in paperback in 1968. The author was listed as Jeffery Hudson but was later changed to Michael Crichton writing as Jeffrey Hudson.  I enjoyed it ok except the story was written from a more liberal attitude toward abortion than I am comfortable with. Aside from that, I thought it was a well crafted story.

During my quick trip to Taiwan I finished my second book by the author T. Davis Bunn. I had first learned about him thru reviews about this book.

Drummer In The Dark is a story that could have taken place this year. It is about the financial markets and traders in those markets. While it was about a field I know little about, I found the story interesting and well paced. The book was not as overtly Christian and the first one I read by Mr. Davis, The Great Divide.

I’m giving it 3.5 of 5 stars