I love writing about books. This month, I read and reviewed eighteen of them. Great reads, important topics, informative presentations, and beautiful writing. On this last, I loved a collection of poetry by 95 year-old Luci Shaw and a delightful short-story collection by Peter Kostoglou. Significant non-fiction reads: Jonathan Haidt on the devastating effects of smartphones on teens, Austin Knuppe on how ordinary Iraqis survived the Islamic State, and Charles Taylor’s magisterial analysis of secularity. John Fea makes a great case for why we should read history.
Then there were so many riveting fiction reads. Kristen Hannah’s The Women, like so many of her books was one I kept thinking about when I wasn’t reading it. I’m amazed at William Kent Krueger’s ability to write so well and make you turn the page in his Cork O’Connor stories. I continue to enjoy the Brother Cadfael stories, reading number 13 in the series this month.
I always read a selection of Christian books, both popular and serious. Nancy French and Curtis Chang have written a must read for anyone looking for a better approach to our politics in The After Party. I read a fascinating biography of William Carey and a tale of a recently discovered diary revealing the story of a group of Christian abolitionists centered around Oberlin College. Robert Cochran’s The Servant Lawyer is a great treatment of the calling of lawyers and the great good they may accomplish.
Here’s the whole list, with links to the publisher’s website in the title and a link to the full review at the end of each summary.
Boundary Waters (Cork O’Connor #2), William Kent Krueger. Simon & Schuster (ISBN: 9780671016999), 2000 (link is to a different edition in print). A young country-western singer hiding in seclusion in a Boundary Waters cabin is pursued by a man claiming to be her father, FBI agents, a father and son from an organized crime family–and a couple of cold-blooded killers for hire. Review
The Rose Rent (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #13), Ellis Peters. Mysterious Press/Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9780446405331), 2014 (originally published in 1986). Two deaths and the abduction of a widow seem tied to a white rose bush from which the annual rent of a Foregate property is paid in the form of one white rose. Review
Humility: Rediscovering the Way of Love and Life in Christ, Michael W. Austin. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802882103), 2024. A study of the Christian virtue of humility understood as following Jesus, being formed in his character of humility and love through his people and through spiritually transformative practices. Review
The Father of Modern India: William Carey, Vishal & Ruth Mangalwadi. Sought After Media (ISBN: 9798988783107), 2023. Proposes that missionary William Carey, and not Mahatma Gandhi, is rightly to be considered the father of modern India. Review
The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt. Penguin Press (ISBN: 9780593655030), 2024. Explores the connections between the decline in independent play in childhood, the advent of smartphones, and the sharp rise in anxiety and depression, among adolescents and young adults. Review
Matthew Through Old Testament Eyes, David B. Capes. Kregel Academic (ISBN: 9780825444784), 2024. A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew showing both obvious and subtle references to the Old Testament of how the life and ministry of Jesus fulfilled the plan of God articulated in these passages. Review
Awakening to Justice, The Dialogue on Race and Faith Project, Jemar Tisby, Christopher P. Momany, Sègbégnon Mathieu Gnonhossou, David D. Daniels III, R. Matthew Sigler, Douglas M. Strong, Diane Leclerc, Esther Chung-Kim, Albert G. Miller, and Estrelda Y. Alexander. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514009185), 2024. How a long-forgotten journal led a team to recover the stories of three abolitionists and their times. Review
Sillies, Fancies, & Trifles, Peter Kostoglou. Resource Publications (ISBN: 9798385207695), 2024. Summary: A collection of seven short stories, all with an element of the fantastic, inviting us into the mystery of beauty, the deep joy in the world, and the power of love. Review
Why Study History? (Second Edition), John Fea. Baker Academic (ISBN: 9781540966605), 2024. A Christian historian explains why the study of history is important to us, what historians do, and helpful and unhelpful ways to relate our faith to the study of history. Review
The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics, Curtis Chang and Nancy French. Zondervan Books (ISBN: 9780310368700), 2024. How we might shift toward a better Christian politics through humility and hope. Review
Gospel Media: Reading, Writing, and Circulating Jesus Traditions, Nicholas A. Elder. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802879219), 2024. Addresses myths and generalizations about reading, writing, and publication in the Greco-Roman world shaping ideas of how the gospels were composed, used, and circulated. Review
The Women, Kristin Hannah. St Martin’s Press (ISBN: 9781250178633), 2024. A historical fiction account of the experiences of women nurses who served in Vietnam war combat areas and what it was like to come home. Review
Reversing Entropy, Luci Shaw. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640608702), 2024. Poems that address the decay in the physical world and how human creativity and transcendent hope reverses entropy. Review
Unfinished Tales Of Numenor And Middle-Earth, J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. William Morrow (ASIN: B00796E7CA), 2012 (originally published by Houghton Mifflin, 1980). A collection of stories, many in unfinished state, by J.R.R. Tolkien providing background information on the three ages of Numenor and Middle Earth, edited by his son. Review
The Servant Lawyer: Facing the Challenges of Christian Faith in Everyday Law Practice, Robert F. Cochran Jr. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514007228), 2024. An exploration of the real work lawyers do and the challenges and opportunities for Christians who practice law. Review
Say Good, Ashlee Eiland. NavPress (ISBN: 9781641587006), 2024. Offers a four-part process for finding one’s voice to navigate the tightrope of challenging public discussions, using one’s voice to “say good.” Review
Surviving the Islamic State, Austin J. Knuppe. Columbia University Press (ISBN: 9780231213875), 2024. A comprehensive study of how civilians survived Islamic State occupation in various communities throughout Iraq. Review
A Secular Age, Charles Taylor. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (ISBN: 9780674026766), 2007. How Western society moved from a shared belief in God to a secular age in which belief was one option of many. Review
Book of the Month. As I mentioned above Kristin Hannah’s The Women is a powerful book on the women nurses who served in combat areas of Vietnam. Through the experiences of Frankie McGrath, we learn of the traumatizing experiences nurses faced on the battlefield and the hostility and lack of recognition and PTSD they experienced at home. Like all her women characters, McGrath is a character who discovers her strength, but also her vulnerability.
Quote of the Month. Humility is a quality not often aspired to. Michael Austin’s wonderful little book on humility as following Jesus had this quote that caught my attention:
“What is the person like who follows Christ in his humility? The humble person fights to descend the social ladder, rather than climb it. The humble person makes the interests of others their priority, rather than their own. Instead of always grasping for what they want, the humble person serves others, for their good, often in sacrificial ways. The humble person focuses on God and others, rather than themselves. The humble person is steeped in the love of God, and that love flows from God through them to others” (p. 35).
What I’m Reading. I just finished Margery Allingham’s The Fashion in Shrouds, the tenth in her Campion series. It was not my favorite–I didn’t like any of the characters, even Campion’s sister. I picked up Maus after it was banned for use in eighth grade classes in a Tennessee school district. Why don’t we want eighth graders to read this account of the Holocaust? I haven’t found anything inappropriate for adolescent readers. Paul and Time by Ann Jervis is a fascinating proposal challenging the ” this age/the age to come” paradigm. She proposes instead that we live either in the present evil age or we live in Christ, and to be in Christ is to be in his time, the time of the resurrection. She calls this “life time.”
Righteousness by Jeffrey J. Niehaus is the first of a three-part study on this biblical idea in which he lays out his proposal and does a survey of other theologians. He proposes that righteousness is conformity to God’s being and doing. I’m on to the third Cork O’Connor, Purgatory Ridge, just as riveting as the first two. Finally, I always enjoy books on books and reading. The Social Life of Reading is a study of how people read together in the home in the eighteenth century. It makes me wonder what we lose when we no longer read aloud to each other.
Well, I hope I’ve offered you a few ideas of some good things to read on those hot summer days.
The Month in Reviews is my monthly review summary going back to 2014! It’s a great way to browse what I’ve reviewed. The search box on this blog also works well if you are looking for a review of a particular book.