Swedes in Canada

Barr, Elinor. Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015.


Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants is a very detailed and well-researched look at persons of Swedish descent who live in Canada. The book touches on the Swedish influence in many sectors of Canadian life. The appendices are useful for persons researching family history as there are place and people lists. The end notes would probably be more valuable as footnotes since many of them further describe things in the text. The bibliography is extensive. In the advance review e-galley, the index had not yet been compiled but there was a place marker for it. Recommended for academic collections with an interest in Swedes and for genealogical collections which serve areas with high concentrations of Swedish researchers. This review is based on an e-galley received by the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes.

The Hog's Back Mystery

Crofts, Freeman Wills. The Hog's Back Mystery. Scottsdale, Ariz.: Poisoned Pen Press, 2015.

When a doctor and a nurse go missing, it's up to Inspector French to solve the case. It soon becomes apparent that both were likely killed, but where are the bodies? Suspicion runs to members of the doctor's household, to the doctor's partner, and to other persons connected with them. When another person goes missing, clues such as blood and dirt begin to surface. It's a complex mystery requiring the use of logic from the Golden Age of Mysteries that is certain to delight fans of the genre. An advance review copy was received from the publisher Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Lasting Love

Begg, Alistair. Lasting Love: How to Avoid Marital Failure. Chicago: Moody, 2015.

Alistair Begg's book on marriage has been around for about eighteen years and is being re-released by Moody Publishers in 2015. My hopes that it was a new edition were shattered when I ran across a reference to it being the 1990s. The latest works cited in the bibliography are from 1996. Much of the advice Begg provides to couples is still valid; however, it is a shame that the content has not been updated and that he has failed to draw from more recent authors such as Gary Thomas and Timothy Keller. Although the advice is sound, I feel that some of the concepts will not be heeded by today's generation without a slightly different approach to the argument. The book has a study guide written by James S. Bell, Jr. which can be used by couples or by groups studying the book. It would probably be quite helpful in many premarital counseling situations. The foreward to the book was written by Howard Hendricks. It seems a new foreward by someone who is at the forefront of today's Christian leaders would have been a good addition to the book. This review is based on an advance readers e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes.