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The Weekly Wrap: May 24-30

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The Weekly Wrap: May 24-30

Logging Off

As a reader, I am at war with a not-so-silent intruder. My phone. Spam calls. Texts trying to sell me or scam me. Social media feeds that either fascinate or anger me. And it often takes me away from reading.

I am not one who necessarily pines to read more. Rather, I wouldn’t mind reading what I try to read each day in less time. And the biggest time waster often is my phone.

The only answer I’ve found is physical separation. I put the phone somewhere else. Then I do focused phone time. Part of my challenge is being what some call “a book influencer.” The main way to do this is online–and most of my posting and interactions are on the phone. But one practice is to take a day away from this every week.

I find myself wondering if I’m contributing to the very problem I battle. I hope not. I try to create spaces pointing people to the goodness, truth, and beauty in books with the hope that this will feed people’s reading habits. Hopefully, I provide a redemptive alternative to so much of the ugliness and distortion of truth one finds online.

But I don’t want people to live here. Too much time on screens arguably affects our ability to think. Longform reading, such as we encounter in books literally cultivates our brains. And as a senior, I need all the brain cells I can get! So, as delighted as I am that you are reading this, may I also encourage you to “log off and read a book!”

Five Articles Worth Reading

Doonesbury was one of the comics we read back in the day of newspapers for its humorous take of the politics of the day during the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan years. Although Garry Trudeau, its creator keeps a low profile, the strip is still going as a weekly. This year, a new biography of Trudeau is being published by Joshua Kendall, a journalist. Pamela Newton sat down for a conversation with the two of them captured in “Authorized? Unauthorized? Garry Trudeau Calls a New Biography ‘Unopposed’“

What books had you read by the time you were twenty-two, when many of us graduated from college? Anna Holmes advises students to “Read These Books by the Time You Graduate.” But why these books? She chose books for those trying to find their way in life, not for advice given, but for qualities one might emulate. I’ve read (and had read by 22) two on the list, and three hadn’t been written when I passed that threshold.

This past week, Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, Humanitas Magnifica. Ed Simon takes the occasion to explore the impact of encyclicals in “How Many Divisions Has the Pope?“–a remark first made by Joseph Stalin.

Although there has already been extensive commentary on the encyclical, I wonder how many have read it. “Encyclical Letter Humanitas Magnifica” is available at the Vatican website and extends the social teaching of the church reaching back to Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, as it discusses the brave new world of AI.

Many of us were readers from childhood, and like C.S. Lewis grew up in homes full of books, or at least homes that encouraged reading. Bethel McGrew talks about growing up in “The House of Ten Thousand Books.”

Quote of the Week

G. K. Chesterton, who was born on May 29, 1874 had a different take on a slogan that is still popular:


‘My country, right or wrong’ is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying ‘My mother, drunk or sober.’

Miscellaneous Musings

I found what looks to be a most interesting trip on a recent bookstore outing: The Wounded Generation by David Nasaw. It talks about those who returned from World War II. My father fought in that war and was proud of his service, as are we. But he only talked about a few incidents that occurred during his deployment in Europe. This was before PTSD was recognized. I wonder how he was changed by his experiences, and look forward to reading this.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters was a powerful song that addressed all the forms of weariness we struggled with in the early 1970’s Vietnam era. What Grows in Weary Lands is like that, but of greater substance. Tish Harrison Warren writes about the weariness that often happens around mid-life and what the life of faith looks like in such times, and other wearying times.

This week, I reviewed Questioning Technology with Jacques Ellul, a collection of 31 essays on the thought of Ellul. As impressed with the Pope’s encyclical as I am, I would say this work is more far-reaching in scope. And Ellul was a prescient thinker I wish more were aware of.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: The Month in Reviews: May 2026

Tuesday: Robert H. Woods and Mark Allen Steiner, From the Outrageous to the Scandalous: Re-imagining Christian Thinking and Scholarship in an Age of Tribalism and Ideological Resentment

Wednesday: Robert Coover, The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.

Thursday: Coleman M. Ford and Shawn Wilhite, Nicaea for Today

Friday: Agatha Christi, Mrs. McGinty’s Dead

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for May 24-30.

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.

The Weekly Wrap: January 4-10

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The Weekly Wrap: January 4-10

Making Peace With My Unread Books

Umberto Eco had a library at one time of 50,000 books. He certainly never read them all. When asked about why he had so many more than he could read, he commented

“It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.“

He actually considered his unread books as a kind of “anti-library,” representing what he did not know. He thought our libraries ought be made up of both kinds of books.

I’m in conversation with many bibliophiles online and it seems to be almost universally the case that we have more books than we will probably read in this lifetime.

I think I’m coming to a greater peace with this. For one thing, I don’t know which books I won’t read. Nor do I know which books that have lounged about unread, I will find the need to read. For example, someone might mention a book, author, or topic, and I realize I have that book! And it all came in handy during the pandemic!

Of course, part of my peace with this is the prior decision to live generously. Acquiring books ought never be a miserly activity. I love giving good books to others who will read them. Likewise, our commitment to charitable giving is the first one set in my budget. Books still are discretionary, after charity, fixed expenses, and basic necessities are met.

So, I think I’m OK with what I’ve not read and won’t be able to. While there is always that yearning for “the next book,” I also find that there is a growing pleasure in having read great books and recalling them (at least as long as the memory works!).

Finally, I like to think of reading as conversations with other minds. And my TBR stack reflects others waiting their turn. It’s as if I am at a reception, engaged in a stimulating conversation, even as I’m aware of someone I’d like to meet. I savor the time in conversation, and then if our times allow, I go to make a new friend.

Five Articles Worth Reading

So, what do I do now? I share the New York Times “The Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026.” They have looked out to September and offered a list of what they think will be the talked about novels this year. I was excited to see that Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Strout have new books coming out!

On a different topic entirely, I was often asked during my years in campus ministry about spiritual attitudes on campus. “How Big Is the God Gap on College Campuses?” gets down into a lot of stats and an interesting correlation between attendance and political attitudes.

One of the “go-to” books for writers is Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. Briallen Hopper offers her own appraisal of how well the book has held up after 30 years in “Anne Lamott’s Battle Against Writer’s Block.”

I’m not the only one who thinks that coarse, rude, and aggressive behavior is becoming increasingly the norm since COVID. James McWilliams noticed this on a book tour and writes of his own response in “Why I Try to Be Kind.”

Finally, an aspect of bibliophilia is not only creating a library but enjoying the libraries of others. Enjoy “The Most Beautiful Home Libraries” from the editors of The New York Times Style Magazine.

Quote of the Week

As it happens, we celebrated Umberto Eco’s birthday on January 5. Here’s another quote about unread books:

“There are books on our shelves we haven’t read and doubtless never will, that each of us has probably put to one side in the belief that we will read them later on, perhaps even in another life.”

Miscellaneous Musings

A mute clockmaker finds himself in San Francisco to repair a a giant clock and runs into Jack London. All this just before the Great earthquake. This is the setting for Norman Lock’s Eden’s Clock. I just began reading it and found myself engrossed. Then I discovered that it is the final book in a twelve book series by Lock with Bellevue Press. I wonder if I’ll be going back and reading earlier numbers.

One of my resolves has been to read more humor. Most of the recommendations I’ve gotten are P.G. Wodehouse and Bill Bryson. Terry Pratchett, who I’m reading has also come up. I’ve read Wodehouse, all of Thurber, none of Bryson, so I’d love more suggestions.

I don’t know about you but I feel like I have whiplash from this week. The fifth anniversary of January 6, the seizure of Maduro and the US “takeover” of Venezuela, and the death of a mom in an ICE-involved shooting. I don’t want to debate the politics as everyone on social media are doing. This new video by Amy Grant, who I haven’t listened to in years, captured my own sense as one of the “Woodstock” generation, that, from such “wide-eyed hope,” we’ve “lost our way.” It seemed a kind of lament to me, a place where I find myself in prayer. I take comfort from the fact that those who lament in scripture are renewed in hope.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: J.D. Lyonhart, The Journey of God

Tuesday: Richard Osman, The Man Who Died Twice

Wednesday: Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor

Thursday: Dale Allison, Jr. Interpreting Jesus

Friday: Ann Hagedorn, Beyond the River

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap  for December 28-January 3.

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.