Many book blogs focus on one genre of books. This is not one of them. I enjoy reading literary fiction, biographies, sports writing, history, and science fiction. I read a fair amount of “religious” material, particularly that which connects Christian faith with other aspects of life. My day job involves ministry with graduate students and faculty who are trying to make those connections, and I want to be a good companion with them on their journeys as well as progress on my own. You will find all of this in the books I reviewed in the last month. For those of you who are new to the blog and don’t know me well, I thought it might help to explain the eclectic mix you will find in this list. One other note: each book listed has two links. The title is linked to the publisher’s website and the word “Review” at the end links to my full review. I hope you will take time to visit both if you think the book sounds interesting.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Alan Sillitoe. New York: Open Road Media, 2016 (originally published in 1959). A collection of nine short stories set in the pre-and post-World War II British working class, characterized by a strong sense of anger, alienation, and desolation. Review

Kingdom Collaborators, Reggie McNeal. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press (Praxis), 2018. An affirmation of kingdom-centered rather than church-centered leadership and a description of eight signature practices that characterize such leaders. Review

Contemporary Art and the Church, Edited by W. David O. Taylor and Taylor Worley. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Academic, 2017. Essays from artists, theologians, and church leaders participating in the 2015 Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) Conference exploring the conversation to be had between the church and contemporary artists. Review

Early Christian Writings, Various, Translated by Maxwell Staniforth, Revised by Andrew Louth. New York: Penguin Classics, 1987. A collection of early, post-apostolic Christian writings concerned with the organization, leadership, worship, conduct, martyrs, and doctrinal teaching of the nascent church. Review

Best Bible Books: New Testament Resources, John Glynn, edited by Michael H. Burer with contributions by Michael H. Burer, Darrell L. Bock, Joseph D. Fantin, and J. William Johnston. Grand Rapids: Kregel Ministry, 2018. A review of commentaries, dictionaries, and other scholarly resources related to the New Testament, singling out those the contributors deem of greatest value. Review

Born to Wander, Michelle Van Loon. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2018. An exploration of the theme of our pilgrim identity as followers of Christ, and how this makes sense of the seasons of transition and loss, and struggles for control in our lives. Review

The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time #1), Robert Jordan. New York: TOR Books, 1990. Following an attack of trollocs and a Myrdraal on Emonds Field, Rand and two friends, joined by several others, flee when they realize that they are the object of the attack, and somehow at the center of a web of destiny that may either thwart or aid the rise of the Dark Power. Review

Rethinking Incarceration, Dominique Dubois Gilliard. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2018. A call for Christians to address mass incarceration in the United States that considers its pipelines, its history, and proposes alternatives to prison and a focus not merely on punishment but upon restoration. Review

Tigerland: 1968-1969: A City Divided, A Nation Torn Apart, and a Magical Season of Healing, Wil Haygood. New York: Knopf, (Forthcoming September 18), 2018. The story of the 1968-69 East High School Tigers championship basketball and baseball teams at a black high school in segregated Columbus, Ohio during the tumultuous aftermath of the killing of Martin Luther King, Jr. Review

Adventures in Spiritual Warfare, William P. Payne (Foreword by Charles H. Kraft). Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2018. A narrative of the author’s awakening to the reality of spiritual warfare and personal evil, and the resources and commended practices available to Christians for engaging that warfare. Review

Raise Your Voice, Kathy Khang. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2018. Explores both why we stay silent and how we may learn to speak up about the things we most deeply care about, particularly in seeking a more just society for all. Review

Knowing and the Trinity, Vern Poythress. Phillipsburg, NJ: Puritan and Reformed, 2018. How various triads of perspectives on both God and the world reflect the Triune God. Review

Scars Across Humanity, Elaine Storkey. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2018. A description of the global crisis of violence against women, possible explanations, and the measures being taken to address different forms of violence. Review

The Reckless Way of Love, Dorothy Day, edited by Carolyn Kurtz, Introduction by D. L. Mayfield. Walden, NY: Plough Publishing, 2017. A collection of Dorothy Day’s writings on following Jesus in the ways of faith, love, prayer, life, and community. Review

Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2018. A biography of da Vinci, from his illegitimate birth, his life long quest for patrons, his insatiable curiosity, his various artworks, and the notebooks, in which are revealed so much of the genius of da Vinci. Review

Book of the Month: The hands-down choice here is Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. This is a tour de force in every way in its exploration of da Vinci’s genius, surveying the notebooks, which are the particular record of that genius, and the works of art that made that genius visible. The book is printed on quality paper to properly render the works of art and other figures from his notebooks and drawings.

Quote of the Month: Dominique Dubois Gilliard’s Rethinking Incarceration is a thought-provoking challenge to a country, the United States, that leads the world in the number of people it incarcerates. This quote powerfully drove that home to me:

While the United States constitutes only 5 percent of the world’s population, we have 25 percent of its incarcerated populace. Statistically, our nation currently has more people locked up—in jails, prisons, and detention centers—than any other country in the history of the world. We currently have more jails and prisons than degree-granting colleges and universities. In some areas of the country, there are more people living behind bars than on college campuses.

One out of every twenty-five people sentenced to the death penalty are falsely convicted. In many states, pregnant women are shackled to gurneys during their delivery. Thirteen states have no minimum age for prosecuting children as adults, such that children as young as eight have been tried and sentenced as adults, left vulnerable to trauma and abuse while living among adults in jails and prisons.

Eighty thousand inmates per day are locked in solitary confinement, where they are quarantined in a twelve by seven foot concrete cell (smaller than a standard horse stall), frequently for twenty-three hours a day, and are only allowed outdoor access and human interaction for one hour. This dehumanizing form of “incarceration” is more accurately defined as torture—a slow assault on the dignity of individuals and a strategic disintegration of their body and psyche.

Current Reads: Edgar Andrews, What is Man? explores the contrast particularly between materialist and Christian worldviews of what it means to be human. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and her Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream uses personal interviews as well as historical narrative to render a portrait of this president who carried out the Kennedy dream in social policy only to have so much of it, and his own reputation, undone by the quagmire of Vietnam. Answering Why is written by a Cleveland area author who explores the skills gap in the workplace and how effective career education can answer the “why” for the rising generation to pursue a particular line of work with passion and excellence. Invitation to Retreat by Ruth Haley Barton is an insightful guide for anyone going on retreat that not only answers the question of why we all should, but also the practices and questions that help us enter into retreat, encounter God, and return to daily life with the insights of this time. Two other books I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into this month are Alan Noble’s Disruptive Witness and Karen Swallow Prior’s On Reading Well. Imagine that–reading about reading!

Here’s hoping that you find something good to read this month.