Book List 2012

I love to read!  There's no question that I'll read plenty of books in the coming year.  But I thought it would be fun to make a list of titles to ensure I make time for them all, and to provide myself a little balance between genres.  And if you're so inclined, you can check me out on Goodreads.

First up -- I'm desperately trying to finish Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.  It's a sci-fi classic, and I really like it, but with all the tiny chapters (some less than a page), it feels like I've been reading forever.

Practicing the Way of Jesus, by Mark Scandrette  I've read some great reviews about this one.

Angry Conversations with God, by Susan E. Isaacs  I heard Susan speak at a conference a few years ago.  Honest and funny, I'm looking forward to this memoir.

All is Grace, by Brennan Manning

Love Wins,  by Rob Bell, and a follow-up,  Christ Alone, by Michael E. Wittmer

Practicing the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence  I've read this book before, but it's small and a classic!

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), by Mindy Kaling   I'm not a huge fan of The Office, but I read some articles that she wrote and I think Kaling is funny and has a great perspective on being a woman in Hollywood.

The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins  I've seen this book all over the place, and hadn't planned on reading it because of some strange resistance to its immense popularity.  But my roommate listened to the audiobook on her work drives and loved it.  Since she so rarely recommends a book to me, I decided to trust her suggestion.

Shane, by Jack Schaefer and My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok  These two are titles I missed reading in my book club last year, but they were highly recommended, so I'm going to try and swing back and pick them up.

And speaking of the book club, our first book for January is The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  The rest of the Broadened Horizons reading list for 2012 can be found here, if you're interested.


I think that's a good start to my list!  I'm sure I'll add some along the way, and feel free to add your own suggestions :)  Happy Reading!

pre-Lenten Reflections

At the last Staff Seminar training I was at for my campus ministry job, I bought a book called Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God by Bobby Gross. As is my custom, I had more books than I could read at one time, and never got around to reading past the foreword. It's arranged, naturally, by the Christian year, and every time I thought about beginning it we were in the middle of a season. But Lent begins next week with Ash Wednesday, and today I had some extra time to sit down and read through that section.

The traditional 40-day period of Lent reflects long biblical fasts by the likes of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. Catholics typically give up meat during Lent, but in my Protestant upbringing, people abstained from a variety of things including chocolate, pop, sex, gossip, coffee, ice cream, etc. Thinking about what I might give up this year left me feeling shallow, because what could I possibly give up that would compare to the sacrifice that Jesus made for me? But Gross's notes helped me to remember the benefits that humbly choosing sacrifice during Lent can have.

We adopt practices that help to sharpen our spiritual awareness. Through prayer and Scripture meditation, moral inventory and behavior changes, fasting/abstinence, and generosity/service, we open ourselves up to receive God's grace and blessing.

I also liked the idea that during Lent, we revisit the declarations we made during our baptism: we renounce satan and all evil powers and sinful desires, we trust in the grace of Jesus Christ our Savior, and we follow him as Lord.

(summarized from p. 128)

How can I put those ideas into practice? My roommate and I decided to do "Frugal February," a month where we cut out all unnecessary shopping and basically only buy gas and groceries. I think I'll continue that through the end of Lent as a part of my fast. I've begun reading through John, so I'll focus on that during Lent in addition to any other reading I might do. I'm also considering doing a day-long juice fast on Ash Wednesday, Fridays during Lent, and Maundy Thursday through Easter Sunday. And I hope that through that process, I will be able to reaffirm the declarations from my baptism: I renounce satan and all evil powers and sinful desires, I trust in the grace of Jesus Christ my Savior, and I follow him as my risen Lord!

Summer Reading List

The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen

How Starbucks Saved My Life, Michael Gates Gill

Treasuring God in our Traditions, Noel Piper

Organizing Your Day, Sandra Felton & Marsha Sims

Flirting With Monasticism, Karen E. Sloan

Catching Life By The Throat, Josephine Hart

Reordered Lives, Reordered Loves, David K. Naugle

New Books!

I just got the May/June issue of Relevant Magazine in the mail, and the first thing I flipped to was their 2009 Summer Reading Guide.  As always, they offered some great new books!  Here are the ones I'll be adding to my ever-growing reading list:

Angry Conversations with God:  A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir by Susan E. Isaacs     I've heard about this book before, and I'm drawn to the idea of someone who writes about God with something other than the happy-go-lucky, Jesus-changed-my-life attitude.  Here's a quote from her in the blurb from the magazine:  "I often felt a huge burden of regret over the mistakes I made, the time I wasted in my life; but it also gave me fresh gratitude for God that He got me through all of that.  Writing was like a sacrament.  I was honoring God by telling the truth about my life.  I was honoring Him."

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larson     This novel about a 12-year old genius cartographer who wins a prestigious Smithsonian scholarship (they don't know he's in middle school) and train-hops across the country sounds delightful and endearing.  It includes the boy's diagrams and illustrations of things like "Maps of People Doing Things" and "Freight Train as a Sound Sandwich."  (That's not a very good review.  Check out the one in Relevant or go read the book yourself.)

Made From Scratch:  Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Wogenrich     My propensity for anything handmade and/or eco-friendly immediately drew me to this book.  It's part narrative, part handbook on the hows and whys of independent, sustainable living.

Endpoint by John Updike     The only impression I have of John Updike is from reading one of his short stories in a high school english class -- I didn't like it at all.  But Relevant's review of his new, posthumously published collection of poems and the excerpt they included may convince me to rethink my opinion.  Plus I've been on a poetry kick lately...  

Requiem 

by John Updike

It came to me the other day:

Were I to die, no one would say,

"Oh, what a shame! So young, so full

Of promise--depths unplumbable!"

Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes

Will greet my overdue demise;

The wide response will be, I know,

"I thought he died a while ago.:

For life's a shabby subterfuge,

And death is real, and dark, and huge.

The shock of it will register

Nowhere but where it will occur.

Down Under?

Last fall, when I was long-term house-sitting for a family in my church, I discovered that they had a fantastic collection of books. Particularly notable to me were the Harry Potter books, travel writer Bill Bryson, and British novelist Alexander McCall Smith. The Harry Potter books were devoured in about a month, and the others were pushed aside for later. Although I wasn't able to read any of Bryson's books at the time, the name and subject matter stuck in my head. I just finished reading his travelogue of Australia, called "In a Sunburned Country." I think it's a rather impressively-sized book, until I remember that the only place I could get it at the library was in the large-print section.

I really, really liked the book! I don't know why I picked that one out of all Bryson's other books; I have no particular affinity for Australia. But now after reading the book, it is now on my list of places to visit in my lifetime. Since I'm running out of time (Panera closes in 15 minutes and I don't have internet access anywhere else) I will condense my "reasons I like Bill Bryson" into a handy list.

--He has a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. (I laughed out loud several times while reading.)
--He has a big vocabulary, and isn't afraid to use it.
--He often combines the two above mentioned items to underhandedly insult waiters and hotel staff where he has had poor service.
--All of his 'favorite' places in Australia were the out-of-the-way, quaint and charming, hidden gems of the country (continent?).
--He is acutely aware of his dorkiness, yet unashamed of it.
--He was able to combine his research about Australia and his travels in it into a funny, charming, and educational book!

Plus, Australia is just a stinking cool country/continent. Go read the book!