So – at some point, my mom handed me The Phantom of Manhattan on tape. It was an interesting new ending by Frederick Forsyth. I never would have read it if it wasn’t on tape because I have plenty of other books to read in real life, but the taped ones are a bit fewer on the shelves. One of the best parts was that it was read by different people – more of a readers theater version. And I did appreciate most of Forsyth’s theology. He had a priest talk to God with one of the main conversations being about humanity – and why life isn’t better. One of the best lines was God saying, “If humans were perfect, it would be a featureless bliss.” This is an image that I’d like to keep around for those times when having theological conversations with people who would like there to be no pain or anger or hurt or death. Yes, there is sadness and pain but also ecstatic joy. And we couldn’t have the happiness in the featureless bliss, either. And that would be tragic (and we would never know)…
I read Good Harbor by Anita Diamant – on tape. It was an interesting, but not as good as The Red Tent. Worth the read and entertaining how she crafted the lives of two women who work their way into self-discovery and self-reflection. Amazing how often I’ve found these themes in things recently. Worth a read or a listen, if only for the fact that I think that Diamant is a talented writer.
I have now read Wicked by Gregory Maguire! (When I say ‘read’ in this, I mean ‘listened to it on CD’.) It was an interesting read and thanks to mom for getting me the CD set for Christmas. Mom and I had gone to the touring company production in Chicago and loved it! The book is very different, as many people have pointed out over time.
There is a heavy political bent to the book. Some of this I understood, and I think that I missed a large amount of the references. But overall, I enjoyed reading the book and getting the full scope of what MacGuire had written in order to see what got changed in the musical theater production. As separate pieces of work, they each have their own merits and I would commend either and both to you.
The book also deals a lot more with development of self, identity, choices (back to those silly thoughts about choice/discernment…). We also get the silence of “animals” – those who are not socially acceptable – and any others who speak out against those who are in power.
I LOVE this book! I read it because I so enjoyed Blink.
The best part about the book - I finally figured out what I am – a CONNECTOR!
The description was wonderful: (paraphrase): “you know those people who seem to know everyone? Well, they do…” I’m like – YES! That’s me! One of his examples has a database of 1600 people – I’m only at like 450. But I figure that I’m younger than he is – so I have a while to catch up.
I appreciated some of his great stories – especially around deterring crime by cleaning things up. Amazing that little things can sometimes make a big difference.
Though, there is about a third of the book at the end that I just don’t get. Anyone understand? I guess after finding the beginning so accessible and so hoping that he could help me figure out what the “one thing” for Canterbury could be, I got lost somewhere in something. I’d love to chat more about it, if you got it.
If you haven’t read it, it’s another good one to check out.
Shane handed me Abarat a pretty long time ago. I had started it once and only got through the prologue – which is a very oddly written piece of work. So, I finally went back to read it again. The prologue is still odd, but once you get to the real meat of the book, it’s written like a real story. It’s a great piece of work and a very wonderful piece of art – the illustration is beautiful. I hope that they didn’t remove that for the paperback printing. It makes for a really heavy book (not convenient for trains or planes) but beautiful.
I’m excited to read the next one now.
I just finished listening to Barbara Kingsolver read her novel Prodigal Summer. This is definitely a great way to read this book – to have the author read it to you. It took a while to get through it since I’m not driving much. While listening, I was totally drawn into the interweaving story lines and thought that it was a brilliant book. In between car trips, I often wondered what was going to happen to the characters.
It also did a great job of talking about humans and the land and animals interacting. Kingsolver had definitely done some research on animals. I was fascinated with some of the things that I learned about insects and coyotes.
A friend from Michigan sent me Q Road because he had heard Bonnie Jo Campbell speak and he thought that I would appreciate what she had to say about property. Sure enough, it was fabulous. The book is set in Kalamazoo and re-tells (probably “liberal adaptation” based on the flack that some other books are getting) the story of a summer on Q Road. Old farms were starting to get taken over by new houses. The people moving in were unhappy because of the farm smells and mess and the farmers were sad to see the property being eaten away by houses.
I have a farm in Michigan (Well, I mean…my dad has a farm in Michigan). I love that farm. 90 acres of heaven. Plenty of room for horses.
And I get nervous as the houses move out of town and closer to the farm. I am sad to see fields being turned into subdivisions – houses growing where hay or corn used to grow. Or houses knocking down forest to put up a house with a yard.
But it’s a great read and fun local information. I’d love to go visit that road (not in my usual track of travel) to see if I can figure out which houses she is talking about.
We went to Allegan to see Narnia. It was great! I had just read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again while in Arizona to prep me for the movie. Glad that I did. And they did stay really true to the book, though I do question some of the changes that they made, since I thought that doing it the way that was in the book would have been just fine… But a great production and very glad that I went to see it on the big screen.
So, I’m a little behind on blogging about this issue of Utne – but there were several things worth noting.
They mentioned Code Pink – an effort to stop the war now (well, perhaps then and still?).
David Schimke wrote an essay titled “Turn Up the Quiet” that deals with the fact that the world is really too noisy. I’ve been blaming the city for being so loud that I often can’t sleep – or that it wakes me up. However, after spending a week at a friend’s house at 94 and Lawrence, I found that really, it’s just my house that’s loud. The drunk people yelling outside of my house in the middle of the night, the many road work projects. It is a problem for me.
They also talk about getting trees planted. Check out American Forests, Future Forests, or the Better World Club to see how you can get trees planted to offset the driving or flying that you do.
Since I had 12 hours between Ohio and Maine, I decided that I should also get the Odyssey from the library – since it was 12 hours. It didn’t quite fit into my driving like that, but it was a great thing to listen to a long a trip. I do believe that mine was a little less dangerous than the great heroes of this book. But I’m glad that I listened to it – I had somehow missed reading it during my years of English.
I have also now seen O Brother, Where Art Thou? again. I was just curious about how the stories overlapped. I didn’t remember all the details of the movie when I was listening to the book. It’s such a great movie. And very fun to see how the Coen brothers decided to change things around…and shorten of course.
During my trip, I also listened to Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott. I had read Crooked Little Heart, but none of her non-fiction. I appreciated so many of her thoughts and reflections. Some of the things that hit me most were about practicing constant forgiveness – especially with the pres. She talks about the need to practice forgiving every day – and how she often has to come back to it over and over again.
I also appreciated her discussion of holding her breath when she was little – how holding our breaths is the ultimate withholding. Jesus wants us to breath – it connects us to the Holy Spirit and connects our body, mind, and spirit. The holding of breath or conscious breathing was an interesting thing on which to reflect – and may be very helpful for a sermon some day…
My favorite quote: “Laughter is carbonated holiness” (would love to give you the page number, but CDs don’t so much include those…)
Gary lent me Blink for my vacation reading. I enjoyed it – mainly because I am a strong believer in quick impressions – I do well with my immediate reactions (if I stop to listen to them). It’s the feeling that I got before I moved to Idaho – that knew that it was the right place. It’s also helped explain why I may be able to discern happy couples from not so happy couples – contempt (page 30) holds the key. When at least one member of the couple has contempt for the other, it doesn’t bode well for them.
Another interesting parts involved the IAT measuring the different prejudices that each person has (page 81). You can take a look at the site and take some quizzes yourself.
I also appreciated the conversation about improv comedy (115). The rule is: never respond negatively to an idea. I enjoy watching Whose Line is it Anyway? and really enjoy watching Ryan and Colin. In a conversation with someone the other day, I pointed out that they had worked together a really long time and knew how to respond to each other. Naming this rule is even more helpful to understanding what I have been seeing.
And a total aside – I’m totally with Americans like their chairs and couches and stuff too soft (169). I like firm chairs and couches and beds and it’s really hard to find things that don’t hurt my hips.
It’s an absolutely amazing read. Definitely pick it up.
So, for the trip, I went and borrowed several books on CD. I started with Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods. While I was in England, I had read his Notes from a Small Island and loved it. I found it only appropriate that I should get this as I headed east.
The problem of reading Bill Bryson in public is that people look at you funny as you laugh out loud. The challenge of listening to him in the car is actually staying on the road. Just absolutely hilarious. Though, one of my favorite parts is when he quoted himself – he made reference to an “author” of The Lost Continent. Since during Ethics class, I had quoted myself from my Systematic Theology paper, I found the quoting of oneself especially funny. He definitely won points for that.
I really appreciate the history that he includes in his books. He includes the appropriate stuff that connects to his personal account. It creates a more elaborate picture of his travels. It also provides an entertaining way for me to learn more about history since I’m actually paying attention. His sarcasm is also right in line with mine. He talks about some of the crazy decisions that have been made in regards to the Appalachian Trail. Governmental controls and mismanagement that have destroyed multiple species of plants and animals are described in detail for the various parts of the AT and some other places in the US. Bryson’s delivery of this information is fabulously crafted. A great read.
And I walked the AT yesterday. Very nice weather to walk a very nice trail.
Thanks to Beth, I was able to read A Song to Sing, a Life to Live by Don and Emily Saliers. I love Indigo Girls and have liked other stuff that Don has written, so it was great to read this.
There are some pieces that really caught my attention and resonated with me.
“Expanding musical boundaries is a challenge because at first it feels like you have to give up an identity that has become comfortable. It is easier for most people to sing what they know – in a sense, to sing what they have already become – than to venture into something new” (89). It’s amazing to me how often I have seen this – in parishes, in seminary, in friends, in myself. Like liturgy, music is tied directly to our identities. It’s hard to be open to something else and to experience something new. When we do, we often find that something unexpected and wonderful happens (might I be bold enough to call it grace?). Or even if we don’t in ourselves feel any different after having heard it, we can talk with others who have been touched by the experience. We can realize that just because we don’t connect doesn’t make it worthless. (This goes for liturgy or music.)
In talking about congregations having fights about music, the comment is made that “all language about God is limited; the divine reality requires a wide range of music if we even begin to express our awe and wonder. The conflicts will be deep and divisive as long as people do not listed to one another in love” (110). It takes time and concentration to be willing to share identity questions. I think that it also takes a strong leader to walk people through the process. The first challenge is to help people see that the music (liturgy) is really about their identities. Once they can have some sort of recognition about it, they might be able to breathe a little more deeply and open up to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of another.
“Hymns that sing of justice and freedom ought to agitate and disturb many of us. Such songs can bring us face to face with truths we might rather not know” (146). It makes me ask, “How am I doing that in my the worship that I help plan? How can I bring these to students and help them become open to the hurts and injustice in the world? How can we together work for justice after being inspired by song?”
A great book and I’m so glad that I read it.
My friend Sarah gave me Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. It was going to be my vacation reading and I almost got through it. But I did finish it the other day.
It is a great book – very well written and incredibly engaging. I was enthralled. Brilliant historical depiction of a place that I know so little about. Golden follows the struggle and joys of one woman through her life. The character creation and description of the towns draw the reader into Sayuri’s world.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the movie – released this December.
I listened to The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd on CD (thanks mom!). As I listened to it, I got worried about where it would go, but all turned out well. I didn’t like it as much as The Secret Life of Bees, but it was an interesting read and since I was able to multi-task (I get so bored driving!) it worked out well. It was an interesting book, but may also have a draw to the women in the next generation older than I. A mid-life, empty nest woman starts to question her life and her marriage.
Well, I finished it on Friday night. It took me until now to blog because other things (that wedding, traveling to Idaho) got in the way… And, I didn’t even know what to say. I needed to think about more than:
I laughed, I cried, I got to the end.
Really, I read HP for the entertainment. I have heard a lot of, “Well, it’s not as well written.” Whatever. Just let me read the story and find out what mess we can get into this year.
So, really, I don’t have much to say that isn’t conjecture about the next (last?) book.
Theories (spoilers – don’t read if you don’t want to know the end)
- Dumbledore is dead. There is really not option. The narrator told us and if he’s not, then we’ve been tricked. That would not be fair and I would be angry (I suspect I’m not the only one who would be.)
- Until yesterday, I thought that Sirius was alive. Someone reminded me however that the veil he fell through was the “death” veil or something. Anyone have more information on this? I had thought that the narrator never told us that he was dead, just that people said that he was. However, I could be wrong and may have to retract this statement.
- Something’s up with Snape. Not all is how it seems. I don’t have a personal theory on this, but someone else thought that Dumbledore may have told Sirius to kill him when the time came.
- There is a horcrux hidden in the Room of Requirement where Harry hid the Potions book.
- Personal thought (preference?): Harry has to have some connection Hogwarts. It is his community. (The priest in me comes out…) Even if he doesn’t go full time, he needs the support of those people.
So, Janet Evanovich is popular this week! 11 on Top is the latest installment of the Stephanie Plum series. Funny, funny, laugh out loud books. The best part of this series for me is the numbered aspect – easy to keep track of which one to read next!
There’s really nothing more that I can say about this book – hot men, destroyed cars, interesting adventures. Read it – or, if you’ve never read her, start at One for the Money.
Due to the amount of work needed to complete before leaving the Midwest, I had started Rage but was unable to finish it. Gary had brought it to me, but the 4 days of packing and getting ready meant that I had to return it before finishing. My sister was able to obtain a copy for me. Jonathan Kellerman is my favorite male author. Some people find him a little graphic and a little over the top with the intensity and plot lines.
This one is even more intense than some of his others. Kellerman used to be a child psychologist and he pulls on this knowledge to create some rather horrific plots. The awful things that happen to children in his books – but I’m sure it’s not really so far off fact. Which makes it even worse if you’re squeamish about such things.
I find his books fascinating and compelling and have never been let down by his writing. I would not suggest that you start with this one, however. Start with something older in order to catch up on the characters. The Alex Delaware novels follow through with some interesting plot twists. I’m sure that you could probably enjoy it as a stand alone, but if interested in reading this, go back to Time Bomb or even to the first, When the Bough Breaks.
Janet Evanovich is one of my favorite authors. She writes consistently funny books with somewhat unbelievable but absolutely hilarious characters. Always worth reading. Her most famous character is Stephanie Plum and those are all worth reading (start with One for the Money). The other series has “full” in the title. They are entertaining, but not as engaging to me – the first has been reworked from a romance novel and the rest of the series is co-authored by someone else. Not as high a caliber as the numbered series.
Metro Girl is the new book (series?). HILARIOUS! Run out and get this one now. The main character is different enough from Plum that I didn’t want to spend a lot of time analyzing it. It was just a lot of fun. A different city, different backgrounds, different interests help the story lines diverge from each other. But the humor is as quality as the numbered series. I laughed out loud for most of the book. My almost-brother-in-law asked, “Is it really that funny?” To which I answered, “YES!” It really is that funny.
A student picked up a book from his home city library sale. Due to my vocation, he thought that a mystery about the Catholic Church might be the way to go. Basilica was tough to get into, but there was a point about 25 pages in that turns it into a good read. It was pretty entertaining. Definitely not the best written book I’ve ever read, but entertaining. Montalbano’s writing style is a little choppy and every once in a while I lost him.
Bottom line: Montalbano traveled with JP II so he has some insider info. His imagination is good and he travel through some pretty complex plots. Not a “run out and buy it now” but if it’s on a shelf somewhere or handed it to you, definitely something light to read.
I own HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!!!!
I have my very own copy – after an hour of waiting in the store for my number to be called. But I have all day tomorrow to read! I’m so excited!
HARRY POTTER!
HARRY POTTER!
HARRY POTTER!
I picked up Horseplay because Horse Illustrated had mentioned it. It was an entertaining read. At first, it didn’t really catch me. But then, about half way through, the writer describes a dinner scene that is absolutely hilarious. Things picked up from there and by the end, I was incredibly amused. The end tied up things nicely – probably too nicely – but the world goes on. Of course, it involved horses and that’s not all bad either.
This is an amazing book! It’s the thing that I have been looking for. I talked before about Julia Spencer Flemming’s work, which is fine. But Michelle Blake does a fabulous job of including theology in every day life. The main character, Lily, struggles with her call, her job, how to do the right thing.
Julia Spencer-Flemming has an underlying current of adultery flowing through the book. While it has not been acted on, there seems to be no discussion about the sin in the situation and the acknowledgement of the struggle. No search for reconciliation. There seems to be no daily theological reflection for her characters.
Blake just seems to have more meat – more depth. I’m excited to read more and see if she continues along in the same way.
Well, this seems to be going around. Dave tagged Gary who tagged me. I’ve put it off until today because I wasn’t sure that I was going to like my answers. The problem is that I’m supposed to be reading an hour a day (6 days a week). It was my Lenten discipline and then became a personal goal for Interim Ministry training. I am almost keeping up with that, but I’m not really happy with how far I haven’t gotten. It doesn’t help that I started getting more magazines. There were some really good deals – so now I get Horse Illustrated, Equus (need those to stay sane), Discover, Time (it was REALLY cheap - $2 for the year), Reader’s Digest (a present), Preimere (have to keep up with the movies somehow so that I can figure out what to see and blog on), Leadership (work related), and trying to keep up on Shane’s Entertainment Weekly.
So – with all the magazines, the books have been scattered in there – and not all necessarily finished. It’s so hard to finish theology magazines.
How Many Books Do You Own? I’m with Gary on this – probably 500. A friend that went through seminary with me says that she has at least that many and I figure that we have to be close. This is also with a major fiction purge right before seminary. I tend to get the fiction cheap or free and then pass it on.
What is the Last Book You Bought? The last book that I bought for myself was either a travel (lightweight) copy of the Bible, NRSV translation or the Luke/John New Interpreter’s Bible. I just purchased 2 Books of Common Prayer, 1979 and 2 Bibles for the Canterbury Northwestern graduates. (wow – can’t tell I’m a priest, can you?)
However, we just had a free-for-all at Seabury, so I picked up Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich (to read on the way to California this summer) and a few other paperbacks.
What is the Last Book You Read? The last book that I read cover to cover is The Tentmaker by Michelle Blake. The review will be posted tomorrow.
I’m also almost done with a Luke Timothy Johnson book that I’m interested in finishing…Need to just sit down and read the last 2 chapters. It was a great book.
And of course it’s my job to continually read the Bible and the commentaries in order to write sermons.
Name five books that mean a lot to you.
Yeah, right… Well, I answered it today, so this is what I came up with. Ask me another day and I’ll give you a different 5.
Okay – Dave mentioned Illusions by Richard Bach. I’ll go with that. My college roommate handed it to me.
And Gary mentioned Calculating God which was an awesome book.
For fun, we’ll throw in Go Dog Go! Because it was my favorite book as a child.
Generation to Generation by Edwin Freidman. A great book to help one understand self and community better.
Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley. Challenges how I do my job and how I think about leadership and myself in systems.
Now "tag" five individuals to provide their own lists.
Hmm…so many people I know are in seminary…and I know what they’re reading! (Or – to be more precise – what they just got done reading!) But, we’ll go with Beth, Heather, Phil (because he reads a lot – and hasn’t blogged in a while…), Shane (who also reads a lot), and Wendy (because it’s her birthday today and she hasn’t blogged since December…). Now, if I didn’t tag you, you can still answer the questions…
And, just like walking into a bookstore – I have the feeling that I need to go read.
This is my fiction for the month. I really liked In the Bleak Midwinter. So, I read this. Nothing spectacular, but entertaining. And definitely fiction…which is always a nice break from theology or Biblical/sermon study. She even writes about a woman priest. Always nice to have a protagonist that I can relate to…well, some aspects…
The best part of plane travel is the great reading time. I read Midwives on the way to Korea. I followed it up with the Law of Similars as I traveled to New Orleans. I really enjoy Bohjalian’s work. This one moved along quickly and encouraged me to continue reading. Definitely worth reading if you have some time for fiction.
Well, my Lent was spent reading – but it was scattered between many books. The Round-table Pulpit by John S. McClure. Great book. Being an extrovert, I really need to talk about stuff to process through things. Sermons are no exceptions. I have to read and think and process and talk and process and write. Therefore, I want to have discussions about possible sermon topics and the things that come up. McClure talks about a very specific process for writing sermons. I’m not sure if I’ll ever use his way to do it, but it was a helpful tool to read about and think about.
Thanks to Susie and Luke, I read Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich (though it took me a while). It was a great book. I used it in Sunday’s sermon because it seemed to fit so well into the “justice” category. It makes me really think about what I can do. What is it that we can do to ensure fair wages? I had hope for Meijer but then learned that they didn’t have the fair labor practices that I thought that they had. So, I’m back to wondering how to purchase stuff fairly. How do I make sure that things are not built by low-wage labor and that are workers paid fairly and given benefits?
So, Shane handed me To Reign in Hell. I knew that it would be an interesting look at creation, so there will be some comparisons to my description of The Garden.
I enjoyed the story. The book was well written and engaging. The theology is definitely not in line with my beliefs. However, the concept of things going wrong because of interference and manipulation is really interesting. One angel’s scheming plays Yahweh and Satan off of each other. And I really thought that the idea of Satan, Beelzebub, and Lucifer being separate entities was intriguing.
While The Garden made me angry at the bad theology, To Reign in Hell was just a really interesting story. It may have been that I expected more from The Garden. I expected that it would be a great new look at the creation story – there is so much that could be done with it and still contain sound theology.
But I would definitely recommend To Reign in Hell to someone as a great story.