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The Month in Reviews — March 2024

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Such a diverse selection here! A classic Ellis Peters mystery started the month and a new science fiction novel that has received early critical recognition. A narrative of the 2016 Fort McMurray fire, asking if this heralds more intense “fire weather” and the internal weathering resulting from racial injustice. Modern classics from Joan Didion and Howard Thurman. Fresh approaches to scripture on women, evil, and, peace. Mysteries from Margery Allingham and yet another brilliant Giles Blunt. A history of Haiti and an exploration of God’s providential history at the very beginnings of creation. An Irish collection of essays and prayers and a Lenten devotional centered on the women who traveled with Jesus. A fine refection on servanthood. A few other treasures as well–nineteen in all.

The Pilgrim of Hate (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #10), Ellis Peter. New York: Mysterious Press/Open Road Media, 2014 (Originally published in 1984). The Feast of the translation of St. Winifred is the occasion of new found love, a fugitive fleeing from murder, thievery, and a miracle, all of which engage Cadfael’s attention. Review

Leadership or Servanthood?, Hwa Yung. Carlisle: Langham Global Library, 2021. Contends that, contrary to our focus on developing or training leaders, Jesus was concerned with the formation of servants. Review

Fire Weather, John Vaillant. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023. An account of the Fort McMurray fire of 2016, when a forest fire consumed a town and became a harbinger of things to come in a hotter, drier world. Review

On the (Divine) Origin of Our Species. Darrel R. Falk. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2023. Accepting the evidence for our evolutionary origins, considers God’s providential activity through his hovering Spirit and how that shaped our evolution. Review

Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays, Joan Didion. New York: Open Road Media, 2017 (Originally published in 1968). A collection of essays, most originally published as Saturday Evening Post articles describing Didion’s first years back in California, during the height of the hippie movement. Review

The Minor Prophets: A Theological Introduction, Craig G. Bartholomew & Heath A. Thomas. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. Combines introductory discussions of the last twelve books of the Old Testament with an exploration of the theological themes of each book as well as the theological significance of the whole corpus. Review

Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love, Pádraig Ó Tuama. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2024. A book of essays and prayers, including 31 days of readings and prayers, focused on being in communion with God as we seek to live lovingly and justly in our own places. Review

The Delicate Storm (John Cardinal and Lise DeLorme #2), Giles Blunt. London: HarperCollins, 2004. A gruesome murder in the woods is soon followed by another, leading to an international investigation, a terrorist plot from the ’70’s, and a shrewd murderer on the loose, climaxed by an epic ice storm. Review

Strange Religion, Nijay K. Gupta. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2024. Roman society thought Christians weird for both their beliefs and practices, and yet oddly compelling. Review

Flowers for the Judge, Margery Allingham. Avarang Books, 2023 (Originally published in 1936). Campion is called in when a member of a publishing family disappears, only for him to be found dead in the firm’s vault, with all the evidence pointing toward younger cousin Mike as the murderer. Review

Eve Isn’t Evil, Julie Faith Parker. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023. Feminist readings of biblical texts involving women, mostly from the Hebrew Bible. with one chapter on the New Testament. Review

The Bible is not Enough, Scot McKnight. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2023. In reaction to the embrace by American Christians of “humane” approaches to war and Christian nationalism, calls for an imaginative and improvisational approach to living out the Bible’s vision of a peaceful world. Review

C. S. Lewis in America, Mark A. Noll with Karen J. Johnson, Kirk D. Farney, and Amy E. Black. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. An analysis of how C. S. Lewis’s works were received in the United States, considering Catholic, secular, and Protestant/evangelical critics evaluating his work between 1935 and 1947. Review

Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society, Arline T. Geronimus. New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2023. A study of the chronic stress marginalized persons experience and the health impacts resulting in the earlier onset of debilitating diseases and shortened life expectancy. Review

Jesus and the Disinherited, Howard Thurman (Foreword by Vincent Harding. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996 (Originally published 1949, link is to 2022 edition). Explores the significance of Jesus for the disenfranchised, the discriminated against, and those marginalized by various forms of injustice and equity. Review

Haiti: The Aftershocks of History, Laurent Dubois. New York: Picador, 2013. A history of Haiti, from colonial rule under France up to the earthquake of 2010. Review

Women Who Followed Jesus, Dandi Daley Mackall. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2024. 40 reflections through the eyes of women who followed Jesus to the cross and witnessed the resurrection. Review

Demystifying Evil, Ingrid Faro (Foreword by Heather Davediuk Gingrich). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023. A biblical study of the evil and God’s work in the world illustrated by the author’s own wrestling with evil. Review.

The Limits of My World, Gregory Coles. Loveland, CO: Walking Carnival Books, 2023. A small group of people from two races encounter, and in the process, discover the challenge of communicating across two languages and a larger reality beyond their known universe. Review

Book of the Month. I found Nijay Gupta’s study of what set Christians apart in Roman society to be fascinating. They weren’t trying to be different but their beliefs and practices not only were weird but also compelling.

Quote of the Month: I loved this expression of God moving toward us as we move toward God in Pádraig Ó Tuama’s Being There.

     Turning to the light
     the light turns to us.
     Moving toward the source
     the source moves toward us.
     Holding on to hope
     hope holds on to us.

What I’m Reading. I just finished a couple books I’ll be reviewing soon, An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters and Raising Mentally Strong Kids–chock full of helpful ideas. My appreciation of Richard Mouw is only growing in reading Divine Generosity, a Calvinist study of the scope of God’s saving work–far greater than you might think. Micha Boyett’s Blessed Are the Rest of Us is a very personal exploration of the Beatitudes by the mother of a child with Down’s Syndrome diagnosed later with autism. Wintering is an exploration of rest and retreat from a non-religious but spiritual writer. Peter Leithart’s Creator explores our theology of God through the lens of the first chapters of Genesis with an engagement with Greek philosophy. In Agatha Christie’s Passenger to Frankfurt Sir Stafford Nye has an unusual encounter with a mysterious woman in the Frankfurt airport that won’t be the last. Finally, Tomorrow a friend and I begin working our way through Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age–a huge and important book. So many good things to read.

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.

The Month in Reviews: February 2024

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This has been a month of considering both the current state of the church and what it could be. Tim Alberta’s book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory and Mike Cosper’s Land of My Sojourn are outstanding examples of the former. Humility Illuminated and Loving Disagreement were examples of the latter. A couple other books centered on the value of two other groups often marginalized in our congregations–children and the disabled. Season of Beauty combines a collection of great writing with great art for our journey from Lent to Holy Week through Eastertide. Some other reading highlights included a mammoth biography of The Beatles, a delightful memoir titled The Bookseller at the End of the World, Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song, the 2023 Booker Prize winner, and Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger. There were some spiritually enriching books on how God guides us personally and how God may form us through suffering. And I continue with great delight to work my way through the Cadfael and Campion series

Dead Man’s Ransom, Ellis Peters. New York: Open Road Media, 2014 (Originally published in 1984.) Following the Battle of Lincoln, Hugh and Cadfael arrange a prisoner exchange between a young Welsh nephew of Owain of Gwynedd for Sheriff Prestcote, which becomes a murder investigation when Prescote is smothered before the Welsh can depart. Review

God Leads Personally: Why It’s True and How It Works, Robert DiSilvestro. Seville, OH: Bezalel Media, 2023. A biblical exploration of how God leads people, concluding that God leads people personally and not just by general principle, and how we may be led by God and avoid deception. Review

The Bookseller at the End of the World, Ruth Shaw. Auckland, NZ: Allen & Unwin, 2022. The story of two small bookshops and their customers in the southernmost part of New Zealand, and the long journey of the bookseller running from trauma, broken dreams, and adventures until re-united with her first love and her work as a bookseller. Review

Persuasive Apologetics, Jeffrey M. Robinson. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2023. Discusses how we use various apologetic approaches adapted to the various people we meet, thoughtfully and gently seeking to undercut their objections, giving reasons for our hope in Christ. Review

Hope for God’s Creation: Stewardship in an Age of Futility, Andrew J. Spencer.Brentwood, TN: B & H Academic, 2023. A theology of creation care that grounds an ethic of stewardship and hopeful practice, anticipating the new creation. Review

Prophet Song, Paul Lynch. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2023. A mother tries to hold her family and life together as Ireland descends into authoritarian rule. Review

Land of My Sojourn, Mike Cosper. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2024. The narrative of a former church leader who stepped away from a toxic leadership culture, the disillusionment that followed, and how reflections from a sojourn in Israel helped him process and find restoration. Review

Loving Disagreement, Kathy Khang & Matt Mikliatos. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2023. Moving beyond impasses or civil discourse to loving one another in Christian community while honestly engaging our conflicts through the working out of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Review

Season of Beauty, compiled by Editors at Paraclete Press. Brewster, MA: Paraclete, 2024. A collection of scriptures and reflections of great Christian writers along with reproductions of great works of art for Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide. Review

The Kingdom of Children, R. L. Stollar, Foreword by Cindy Wang Brandt. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2023. Summary: A liberation theology of the child that centers children in our theology and ecclesial life, arguing for their full humanity and their place as participants in the life of the whole church. Review

How Ableism Fuels Racism, Lamar Hardwick. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2024. An argument that ableism is an important lens through which to understand racism, because both create a hierarchy of superior and inferior bodies. Review

The Beatles: The Biography, Bob Spitz. New York: Little, Brown, 2005. A biography of the band from its beginnings, rise, Beatlemania, studio work, and demise, with mini-biographies of each of the Beatles, their manager, Brian Epstein. Review

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Naomi Klein. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023. Naomi Klein, a liberal activist and writer finds herself being confused with another Naomi, once a feminist now become an anti-vax advocate and darling of the extreme right. Review

Wisdom from the Witch of Endor, Tikva Frymer-Kensky. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2024. A modern midrash on the witch of Endor and four lessons or rules we may draw from her story. Review

The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope, Curt Thompson, MD. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023. Drawing on the experience of Paul, described in Romans 5 and using the insights of neurobiology, a psychiatrist explores how hope may grow out of suffering as one learns one is secure in the presence of God and of a caring community. Review

Death of a Ghost (Albert Campion #6), Margery Allingham. New York: Avarang Books, 2023 (first published in 1934). Campion and Stanislaus Oates investigate two murders connected to the house of Belle Lafcadio and the unveiling of famous works of her deceased husband John. Review

Gentilly Terrace, Gordon Peter Wilson. Austin: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2023. A tale of petty and systemic graft interwoven with a troubled family, an FBI investigation and a budding love affair, all centered around a Vietnamese grocery in East New Orleans. Review

Humility Illuminated, Dennis R. Edwards. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. A study of humility throughout scripture, showing it as the distinctive identifier of those who follow Jesus. Review

The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory, Tim Alberta. New York: HarperCollins, 2023. A several years-long study of why much of the evangelical movement turned to hard right, nationalist politics, ignoring character and embracing the pursuit of power to enforce its vision of American greatness. Review

Book of the Month. This was a clear choice. Tim Alberta’s The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory combines thorough reporting with personal engagement and a clear passion for God. This is not the angry hatchet job of an exvangelical, but rather a man of deepening faith, who has persisted out of love for a church he sees straying far from God’s purposes.

Quote of the Month. This William Butler Yeats poem was going through my mind as I read Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger and came up again in a collection of Joan Didion essays I began reading today:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

What I’m Reading. As I mentioned, I’ve just begun Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a collection of essays she wrote in the 1960’s when she was living in California. I just finished The Pilgrim of Hate number 10 in the Cadfael series. There is a finely written description of a miraculous healing that was worth the price of admission, and Cadfael has a reunion with Olivier and confesses his relationship with Olivier to Hugh. Fire Weather chronicles the Fort McMurray fire of 2016, and the sheer power of these fires and the disbelief that it could overrun this oil industry town. Leadership or Servanthood builds on the intriguing observation that while there are many calls to servanthood in the Bible, nowhere are we exhorted to train “leaders.” On the (Divine) Origin of the Species builds on an acceptance of evolutionary biology to explore how the qualities that make us distinctly human, particular that capacity to collaborate with others, reflects both evolutionary processes and the hovering Spirit of Creator God. Craig Bartholomews’s The Minor Prophets is a deep dive into The Twelve, the books at the end of the Old Testament that are anything but minor in their message.

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.

The Month in Reviews: January 2024

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With the cold weather we had for a couple weeks in January, I ended up reading twenty books this month. Admittedly one was an illustrated children’s book by Ned Bustard on St. Valentine and another was a chapbook of poetry by Vermont writer Amy Allen. That balanced Abraham Verghese’s eloquent but lengthy The Covenant of Water and some longish theology books on the Wesleyan doctrine of holiness and a book on reading the prophets in the light of Christ’s work. I enjoyed Richard Middleton’s Abraham’s Silence on the sacrifice of Isaac, although I differed at points with the author. He saw my review and was kind enough to send written responses that addressed my differences. I love that. And the book made me think more than many.

I would highlight three other books. One was Ann Patchett’s These Precious Days, a collection of essays–the title essay of which is a powerful true story. The other was a biography of Paul Laurence Dunbar, an early Black poet and Ohioan. At the encouragement of another reviewer I follow, I really must get over to his house in Dayton, a historical landmark. The third is a history of Christian missions originating in the West from the late Andrew Walls. There are several other books here on Christian theology and spirituality, my latest reviews from two mystery series I’m reading, an early Graham Greene and a George Simenon and a few other delightful books I’ll let you discover.

Holiness: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Theology, Matt Ayars, Christopher T. Bounds, and Caleb T. Friedeman. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. A biblical, historical, and theological argument within the Wesleyan tradition for holiness understood as “entire sanctification” or Christian perfection, able not to sin and to wholeheartedly love God and neighbor. Review

The Devil’s Novice (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #8), Ellis Peters. New York: Mysterious Press/Open Road Media, 2014 (Originally published in 1983). Meriet Aspley is called the “Devil’s Novice” for his nightmares, his awkwardness among the brothers, and an attack leaving him consigned to Brother Mark, where he finds the body of a man he later confesses to have murdered. Review

The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness, Edited by Andrew T. Abernethy, William R. Osborne, and Paul D. Wegner. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. An exploration of how Christians should read Old Testament prophets in light of the work of Christ and of how the apostolic witnesses read them. Review

Abraham’s Silence, J. Richard Middleton. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021. Challenges the traditional reading of the binding of Isaac that valorizes Abraham’s silence as unquestioning obedience and faith, contending that God wanted more than silent obedience. Review

The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese. New York: The Grove Press, 2023. The story of three generations of the family of Big Ammachi of Parambil, the ever present reality of “the Condition” resulting in a drowning in every generation, a story both of love and the hope in advances in medicine. Review

These Precious Days, Ann Patchett. New York: Harper Collins, 2022. Essays on family, friendships, the life of writing and bookselling, and mortality. Review

The Yellow Dog (Inspector Maigret #6), Georges Simenon. New York: Penguin Books, 2014 (Originally published in 1931). Maigret is called in when a distinguished wine merchant is shot, followed by a murder, a disappearance and another shooting in which a common element in several instances is a yellow dog. Review

A Non-Anxious Life, Alan Fadling. Downers Grove: IVP Formatio, 2024. Proposes, as an alternative to an anxiety-driven life of hurry, restlessness, worry, and performance, a life under the non-anxious presence of Jesus of stillness, rest, peace, and fruitful love. Review

After Dispensationalism, Brian P. Irwin with Tim Perry. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2023. A study of the history, key beliefs, and teachers of dispensationalism with an assessment of the movement’s strengths and weaknesses along with a treatment discussing reading prophetic and apocalyptic books within their context. Review

Pray This Way To Connect With God, Hal Green. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2023. A book on learning to pray, focusing on God’s initiative toward us to teach us to pray and prayer as focused on deepening our relationship with God. Review

Sweet Danger (Albert Campion #5), Margery Allingham. New York: Open Road Media, 2023 (Originally published 1931). Campion and friends seek to prove a rural family to be the rightful heirs of Averna, an oil-rich seaside village on the Adriatic while pursued by an unscrupulous financier. Review

Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird, Gene Andrew Jarrett. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022. Perhaps the definitive biography of Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first African writers to achieve fame for his poetry and other writings. Review

Creation Care Discipleship: Why Earthkeeping Is an Essential Christian Practice, Steven Bouma-Prediger. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023. A discussion of why and how earthkeeping is integral to following Christ, drawing upon scripture, Christian theology and Christian thinkers throughout the breadth of the church. Review

The Missionary Movement from the West (Studies in the History of Christian Missions), Andrew F. Walls, edited by Brian Stanley, foreword by Gillian Mary Bediako. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2023. A history of the last five hundred years of Christian mission efforts from the Europe and North America. Review

A Gun for Sale, Graham Greene. New York: Open Road Media, 2018 (originally published in 1936). A paid assassin murders a foreign minister of war, creating an international crisis that could lead to war but is betrayed by the middleman who paid him, who he pursues even as the police pursue him. Review

Renaissance, Susan Fish. Brewster, MA: Raven | Paraclete Press, 2023. Approaching fifty, Elizabeth Fane suddenly leaves work she loves as an executive director of a non-profit and a family that has been her life, to work in the gardens of a convent in Florence, Italy. Review

The Spiritual Art of Business, Barry L. Rowan. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023. An exploration of how God can work both in us and in our world through our work. Review

Saint Valentine the Kindhearted, Ned Bustard (text and illustrations). Downers Grove: IVP Kids, 2024. A retelling in verse and woodcut illustrations of the story of Saint Valentine, centered on not only his kindheartedness, but that there is more to love than romance. Review

Mountain Offerings, Amy Allen. Montpelier, VT: Rootstock Publishing, 2024. A chapbook of narrative verse capturing memories of childhood, summer vacations in the mountains, growing love, parenting, and loss. Review

The Spacious Path, Tamara Hill Murphy. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press, 2023. In our fragmented world, discusses how the idea of a rule of life, not as an ill-fitting structure but an intimate walk of listening and love with Jesus, may bring wholeness into our lives. Review

Book of the Month. Hands down, my choice has to be The Covenant of Water. The story features extraordinary characters like Big Ammachi and her namesake granddaughter Mariamma, who makes a crucial medical discovery of the cause of a medical malady that has afflicted the family. The narrative spans three generations, set in the Mar Thoma Christian community of South India in a time of national upheaval and transformation. It’s a big book but the skilled writing and flowing prose of Verghese, a medical doctor, drew me along.

Quote of the Month. I’ll leave you with a page of verse from Ned Bustard’s Saint Valentine the Kindhearted, published just in time for Valentine’s Day:

Roses are red, violets are blue,
sugar is sweet, and so are you.
This is the poem many share
to show how much they love and care.
Flowers and candy sent our way
ev’ry year on Valentine’s Day.
But why the cards that say, “Be mine”?
That’s all from dear Saint Valentine!

      –Ned Bustard

What I’m Reading. I’ve recently finished several books that you’ll see reviews of in the next days. One is the ninth in the Brother Cadfael series. Another both makes the case for God’s personal leadership in our lives and how we experience. The third is a memoir by a bookseller with a compound of small bookshops in the southernmost reaches of New Zealand, appropriately titled The Bookseller at the End of the World.

I’m a bit over 200 pages into Bob Spitz’s massive biography, The Beatles. All of what I’ve read so far is the arduous process undergone by this group, under several names and different personnel, before they became the Fab Four. Matt Mikalatos and Kathy Khang team up on Loving Disagreement, a far more spacious conception than mere civility for how Christians may differ, shaped by the fruit of the Spirit. Hope for God’s Creation is an effort by a Baptist theologian to articulate the theological framework that ought ground our care for creation. Persuasive Apologetics makes the case for persuasion and the use of an “eclectic” apologetic in Christian witness. Finally, I’ve just begun Paul Lynch’s Booker Prize-winning Prophet Song. Set in Ireland, it envisions a turn to an authoritarian state that suspends rights like habeas corpus and “disappears” opposition, claiming emergency powers and using Orwellian tactics turning language inside out. Chilling to any of us who think “it can’t happen here.”

I hope these twenty books suggest a few reading possibilities for you. And, as always, do return the favor and tell me what you are reading!

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.

The Month in Reviews: December 2023

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This month’s collection of reviews, seventeen in all, includes a review of a wonderful set of theological reflections on Christmas that explores ways our practices of lights, decorations, and gifts may reflect our theology of the incarnation. I also reviewed a forthcoming book on the cross, thought-provoking and well-written though I could not agree with some of the conclusions of the writer. I also had the somewhat puzzling experience of reading a book on reading Barth that didn’t so much give me pointers in reading Barth as it did the author’s reading of the great theologian. Likewise, I reviewed a book that seemed to be offering a dialogue on two approaches to Paul, It turned out it was two older essays set beside each other with one of the authors being deceased! This left the reader to provide the dialogue!

On a more positive note, I began the month reading a thoughtful book on how certain kinds of constraints facilitate our spiritual growth. I delighted in seeing the first book by a blogger who helped me through the pandemic, which expanded on her ideas as a Christian epidemiologist of we might expand our vision for loving neighbors through understanding some of the global public health challenges we face today. I worked through a great commentary on John in the “Through Old Testament Eyes” series and a thoughtful book on suffering. Along the way, I read a couple Campions, a Cadfael, and the first in the Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger. Rounding out the month, I read a history of Istanbul spanning over two millenia, an account of Lincoln’s sixteen days at Grant’s headquarters at the end of the Civil War and how it changed him, and a Nobel Prize-winning novel by Kenzaburo Oe, a Japanese novelist.

Finding Freedom in Constraint, Jared Patrick Boyd. Downers Grove: IVP Formatio, 2023. Proposes that constraints in terms of spiritual practices in the context of community, expose our inner desires, allowing them to be healed and formed by Christ. Review

Look to the Lady (Albert Campion #3), Margery Allingham. New York: Open Road Media, 2023 (Originally published in 1931). Albert Campion assists the Gyrth family in protecting a priceless chalice in the family for hundreds of years against an international theft ring focused on creating private collections of priceless treasures. Review

Reading Karl Barth: Theology That Cuts Both Ways, Chris Boesel. Eugene. OR: Cascade Books, 2023. A synopsis of the major themes of Barth’s theology and theological ethics, showing how his theology “cuts both ways” against the theological left and right while it centers on God’s “Yes” to us in Christ. Review

Christmas, The Season of Life and Light (Fullness of Time series), Emily Hunter McGowin. Downers Grove: IVP Formatio, 2023. Spiritual and theological reflections to aid readers in their celebration and spiritual formation around the season of Christmas. Review

Istanbul, Thomas F. Madden. New York: Viking, 2016. A history of this great city at the meeting place of Europe and Asia from the Byantine Empire beginning in 667 BC through the modern Istanbul up to 2016. Review

The Wood Between the Worlds, Brian Zahnd. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, (Forthcoming) 2024. An approach to the kaleidoscopic theological meaning of the cross. the center of the biblical story through the lens of poetry. Review

Lincoln’s Greatest Journey, Noah Andre Trudeau. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2016. A day by day account of the final trip Abraham Lincoln took for sixteen days at City Point, Virginia, the headquarters of Ulysses S. Grant, and how this transformed Lincoln. Review

The Sanctuary Sparrow, Ellis Peters. New York: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road, 2014 (Originally published in 1983). A young traveling entertainer at a wedding seeks sanctuary in the abbey, pursued by a mob accusing him of murdering and robbing the groom’s father while Cadfael and Hugh explore the possibility of other suspects closer to home. Review

Iron Lake (Cork O’Connor #1), William Kent Krueger. New York: Atria Paperbacks, 2019 (20th Anniversary edition, originally published in 1998). A murdered judge and a missing paperboy sets former sheriff Cork O’Connor onto the trail of a conspiracy, a trail on which this won’t be the last death. Review

John Through Old Testament Eyes, Karen H. Jobes, series editor Andrew T. LePeau. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2023. A commentary focused on the Old Testament backgrounds of “history, images, metaphors, and symbols” found in John’s gospel, along with applicatory reflections. Review

Paul, Narrative or Apocalyptic, Christiaan Beker and N.T. Wright. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2023. Essays by two leading N.T. scholars representing the main distinctive views of Paul, either focusing on the age to come and the return of Christ to inaugurate new creation or the narrative continuity with the covenant fulfilled in Christ opening into the inclusion of the Gentiles. Review

Even If He Doesn’t, Kristen LaValley. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Momentum, (Forthcoming February) 2024. Summary: A memoir of facing suffering and all the questions of why and where is God and does God hear. Review

Police at the Funeral (Albert Campion #4), Margery Allingham. New York: Open Road Media, 2023 (Originally published in 1931). A request to find a missing uncle turns into a multiple murder investigation in an unhappy Cambridge manor. Review

Every Book Its Reader, Nicholas A. Basbanes. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006. A celebration of those who compiled book lists and made recommendations, the impact of books on various individuals, and the reading lives of famous individuals. Review

Now I Lay Me Down to Fight, Katy Bowser Hutson (Foreword by Tish Harrison Warren). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023. Poems and essays tracing one woman’s cancer journey and how she encountered God amid the brokenness of her body. Review

The Science of the Good Samaritan, Dr. Emily Smith. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Books, 2023. A book that looks at what it means to love our neighbor through the lens of global public health. Review

A Quiet Life, Kenzaburo Oe (Translators: Kunioki Yanagishita, William Wetherall). New York: Grove Press, 1998. Ma-chan, a quiet, college age woman is left to care for her older brother who has a neurological disorder and younger, college-bound brother while her father, a famous writer, sorts out his life and faith in California on a writer’s residency. Review

Book of the Month: Now I Lay Me Down To Fight. As the husband of a breast cancer survivor, Katy Bowser Hutson’s little book of poems and essays resonated in so many ways with our experience, although no two cancers or cancer journeys are alike. Her writing captures well the distinct challenges of chemo, surgery, and radiation, the fears, the exhaustion, the bodily indignities, and the spiritual journey with all its ups and downs. You are, know, or will know someone who faces this. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t find this book helpful.

Quote of the Month: Kristen LeValley has written a thoughtful book on her own experience of facing suffering and what it meant to cry out to God with her questions amid that experience. She made this valuable observation to encourage both those who suffer and those who walk with them:

“We don’t have to tie things up with a pretty bow to make sure we’re presenting God in the best light. We don’t have to justify our heartbreak to prove that God is still good. We don’t have to find a target so it will make sense. We don’t have to defend God’s goodness by dismissing the pain of our experiences” (p. 187).

What I’m Reading. Over the Christmas holidays I began Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water, a gorgeously written novel set in South India spanning much of the twentieth century. I’m about 400 pages into this 700+ page novel and can’t say enough good about it. I just finished a book on a Wesleyan theology on holiness arguing for the idea of entire sanctification–something I’ve not heard much about in recent years. I’m also reading The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness: Reading Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel as Christian Scripture. The authors explore to what extent we may read these books not only in terms of their context but in light of the work of Christ. Abraham’s Silence explores the significance of Abraham’s silence when commanded by God to sacrifice his son. This is an incident I’ve thought long on and am eager to see what J. Richard Middleton will say. Hal Green’s book Pray This Way To Connect With God is a rich book on page organized into short, two page reflections on the natire of prayer and how we may do so. Finally, I’m in the middle of my eighth Cadfael, loving this series more with each book.

In case you missed them I posted several end of the year posts you might enjoy

Bob on Books Best of 2023. My choices of the best books I’ve reviewed in a number of categories in 2023.

Bob on Books Readers Choice Books of 2023. These are the ten most viewed reviews of 2023.

Bob on Books 2024 Reading Challenge. A different kind of book challenge.

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.

The Month in Reviews: November 2023

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If you skim over this list, you will recognize that I’m in a season of working through vintage series–Brian Jacques’ “Redwall,” Ngaio Marsh’s “Roderick Alleyn,” Margery Allingham’s “Albert Campion,” and Ellis Peter’s “Brother Cadfael” are all represented here. I read several books on evangelicalism including Edith Blumhofer’s history of the music of the Billy Graham Crusades and its impact on evangelical worship, a forthcoming work on the movement of deconstructing faith, resulting in many departures from evangelical churches, and finally, Karen Swallow Prior’s fine study of the evangelical imagination. There are two complementary devotionals here–a verse by verse set of reflective prayers from the book of Hebrews, six days a week for the year, and a wonderful little 90 second devotional based on the lectionary for Year B.

In the history department there is a study of the life of Ramesses II, perhaps Egypt’s greatest Pharoah, and a new biography of David Tod, perhaps the most illustrious citizen to hail from my hometown of Youngstown, serving a pivotal role as state governor of Ohio for two key years during the Civil War. I read a thoughtful proposal for police reform from a former police officer and a book on discipleship through the lens of justice. Rounding out the list is a Ronald Rohlheiser classic on spirituality, one of the best I’ve read in this genre, a thoughtful book on lament, a very helpful book on reading the Psalms, and a novel set in Paris that was a delightful surprise. As always, the link under the title will take you to the publisher’s page and the link saying “Review” will take you to the full review.

The Holy Longing (Fifteenth Anniversary Edition), Ronald Rolheiser. New York: Image, 2014. A discussion of Christian spirituality rooted in an understanding of desire and the incarnation. Review

Just Discipleship, Michael J. Rhodes (foreword by Brent A. Strawn). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. A study both of what the Bible means by justice and how we become people who practice justice. Review

Ramesses II, Egypt’s Ultimate Pharoah, Peter J. Brand. Columbus, GA: Lockwood Press, 2023. Drawing heavily on archaeology, this lavishly illustrated work describes the life, historical and cultural context, and physical record of this arguably greatest of Egypt’s Pharaohs. Review

Mystery Mile, (Albert Campion #2), Margery Allingham. New York: Bloomsbury Reader, 2018 (originally published in 1930). Campion is hired to protect a retired American judge investigating the Simister crime syndicate, yet even a remote coastal community is not safe from their sinister efforts. Review

Salamandastron (Redwall #5), Brian Jacques. New York: Ace Books, 1994. The Badger Lord of the mountain fortress Salamandastron faces the overwheming forces of the Corpsemakers led by Ferahgo the Assassin and his son Klitch while Redwall Abbey is laid low by a deadly fever. Review

Sundays on the Go Year B, Albert Haase, OFM. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2023. Taking the lectionary readings for each Sunday in liturgical year B, offers a brief reflection, prayer, and question to ponder, also including readings for solemnities and special feasts. Review

Rethinking the Police, Daniel Reinhardt. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023. A study of the history of policing in the United States and how a culture of dehumanization has developed, offering recommendations for reform rooted in servant leadership, community-based policing, and procedural justice. Review

The Leper of Saint Giles (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #5), Ellis Peters. New York: Mysterious Press/Open Road Media, 2014 (Originally published in 1981). A wedding arranged between two landed families between a powerful old baron and an orphaned girl in charge of her avaricious uncle and aunt fails to happen when the groom doesn’t show because he lies murdered along a trail. Review

The Deconstruction of Christianity, Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Elevate, (Forthcoming, January 30,) 2024. A study of what the authors term the “deconstruction movement.” why this needs to be taken seriously, and how to respond to loved ones who are “deconstructing.” Review

The Political Transformation of David Tod, Joseph Lambert, Jr. Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 2023. A biography of Governor David Tod from Youngstown, focusing on his political career and his transformation as a “War Democrat” from support of popular sovereignty to supporting the Union war effort and ultimately Emancipation. Review

Hopeful Lament, Terra McDaniel. Downers Grove: IVP/Formatio, 2023. Out of a string of experiences of loss, the writer, a spiritual director writes about grief, lament, and the hope inherent in biblical lament. Review

The Evangelical Imagination. Karen Swallow Prior. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2023. A consideration of the images, stories, metaphors that constitute the “social imaginary” of what it has meant to be an evangelical. Review

Overture to Murder (Roderick Alleyn #8), Ngaio Marsh. New York: Felony & Mayhem, 2012, (Originally published in 1939). A comedic play in a small village to raise funds for the church to buy a new piano turns into a murder mystery when the pianist is shot when playing the opening notes of the prelude by a gun concealed within. Review

Songs I Love to Sing, Edith L. Blumhofer (foreword by Fernando Ortega). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: 2023. A history of the ministry of Billy Graham, focused on the music, the key roles of Cliff Barrows and George Beverly Shea, and the wider influence of the musical practices of the Crusades. Review

Bastille Day, Greg Garrett. Brewster, MA: Raven/Paraclete Press, 2023. A brief love affair with a beautiful Muslim woman who he rescues from a suicide leads Cal Jones to come to terms with losses and traumatic memories and to discover that he is not alone. Review

Treasuring the Psalms, Ian J. Vaillancourt. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. An orientation to both lay readers and churches to how to read and appropriate the Psalms, approaching them canonically, Christologically, and personally. Review

The Most Holy Place, Jeremy D. Vogan. Staunton, VA: LightPath Publishing, 2023. Day-by-day prayers based on a verse by verse reflection on the Book of Hebrews. Review

Book of the Month. I was so impressed with Ian Villaincourt’s Treasuring the Psalms, one of the most helpful books I’ve come across for making sense of the Psalms as a whole and how we read and apply individual Psalms in our lives and as worshipping congregations.

Quote of the Month. I found Ronald Rohlheiser’s The Holy Longing to be one of the most profound books on Christian spirituality I’ve read. This quote explains what he means by “holy longing” and reflects profound insight into our nature as human beings:

“Spirituality is about what we do with the fire inside us, about how we channel our eros. And how we do channel it, the disciplines and habits we choose to live by, will either lead to a greater integration or disintegration within our bodies, minds, and souls, and to a greater integration or disintegration in the way we are related to God, others, and the cosmic world.”

What I’m Reading. I’ve just added to my reading stack Reading Karl Barth by Chris Boesal. I’m ashamed to say how little of this formidable theologian I’ve read! Maybe this will inspire me. Jared Patrick Boyd has an interesting book title Finding Freedom in Constraint which addresses how spiritual practices function as constraints revealing our inner desires. Sounds like shades of Rohlheiser! I’ve had Thomas F. Madden’s Istanbul on my “to read” pile for several years. Digging into it, I’m realizing what a pivotal role the city has played through history. On a lighter note, I’m midway through Margery Allingham’s Look to the Lady, the third in her Albert Campion series and am fascinated in the brilliant, eccentric character she has created in Campion. Finally, I’m reading Emily Hunter McGowin’s Christmas: The Swason of Life and Light, which looks to be a refreshing theological reflection on this day on which we celebrate the incarnate son, Jesus amid all the commercialization and hustle and bustle of the season.

An Extra:

For those of you who are intrigued to know more about Daniel Reinhardt’s ideas in Rethinking the Police, I interviewed him for our Emerging Scholars Network Conversations series. Watch the interview on YouTube!

Happy reading, friends! Hope this list offers reading ideas for you as well as those on your shopping list.

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.

The Month in Reviews: October 2023

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Reviewing the list of books I read this month, what stands out is a lot of mysteries–two Cadfael’s, the first in Margery Allingham’s Campion series, and a previously unknown (to me) author Giles Blunt with detectives Cardinal and DeLorme in northern Canada. Some other standouts include a study of the history of dispensationalism in the U.S., John Irving’s latest, and supposedly last long novel (it is), a book on difficult conversations on race that was followed by one modelling a fictional dialogue on homosexuality and the Bible, what can also be a difficult conversation, and finally, a wonderful memoir by a bass player who spent his life in jazz ensembles and the theatre scene around Chicago, playing with a number of jazz greats. I’d also highlight Can You Just Sit with Me?, a sensitive book on walking with the grieving, Benjamin Laird’s book on the New Testament canon, and a forthcoming book by Jeff Haanan on Working From the Inside Out, a marketplace-focused book on spiritual transformation–concise yet rich!

Saint Peter’s Fair (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #4), Ellis Peters. New York: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, 2014, (originally published 1981). The murder of a merchant from Bristol during Saint Peter’s Fair is the first of a string of break-ins culminating in another murder; even while two young men vie for the attentions of the merchant’s bereaved niece. Review

The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism, Daniel G. Hummel (Foreword by Mark A. Noll). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2023. A history of the origins, rise, and eventual decline of dispensationalism within American evangelicalism, and its impact on the wider American culture. Review

Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul, Dorcas Cheng-Tozun. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023. How highly sensitive persons can also contribute to social justice efforts in ways consonant with their personalities. Review

Can You Just Sit With Me?, Natasha Smith. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023. An extended reflection for Christians permitting ourselves and others to grieve well and how we may accompany those who are grieving. Review

Witness In The Academy, Rick Mattson. Madison, WI: InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries, 2023. Offers both a framework for thinking about Christian witness among graduate students and faculty and a host of practical resources aiding in that witness. Review

The Last Chairlift, John Irving. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2022. The son of a former slalom skier tries to make sense of the ghosts he sees, the father he never knew, and the different ways people love, and fail to love. Review

How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race, Kwame Christian. Dallas: BenBella Books, 2022. Makes the case for the importance and unavoidability of workplace conversations about race, how we may overcome our fears, and offers a framework of practical skills in engaging these conversations. Review

Four (and a half) Dialogues on Homosexuality and the Bible, Donald J Zeyl. Cascasde Books: Eugene, OR: 2022. A fictional dialogue between four students representing four different interpretive approaches to the Bible regarding homosexuality and same sex marriage. Review

The Crime at Black Dudley (Albert Campion #1), Margery Allingham. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018 (originally published in 1929). A house party at a remote mansion results in the death of its one reclusive resident after a “lights out” game with a 15th century dagger, followed by the party being held captive by the head of an international crime syndicate. Review

Beguiled By Beauty, Wendy Farley. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020. A book on the contemplative life encompassing all of life as well as specific practices, written on the “borderlands” of Christian faith. Review

Working from the Inside Out, Jeff Haanen. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, (Forthcoming December 12) 2023. In a disintegrating world, outlines how five dimensions of inner transfornation can, in turn, transform our outer world of work and our life in society. Review

What Jesus Intended, Todd D. Hunter. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023. Written for those who have been disillusioned by the church and bad religion, offering hope that the rediscovery of Jesus and his aims can sustain and restore us. Review

King: A Life, Jonathan Eig. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023. A new biography of King that focuses not only on his civil rights leadership but his personal life and struggles. Review

Colour Scheme (Roderick Alleyn #12), Ngaio Marsh. New York: Felony & Mayhem, 2013 (first published in 1943). A struggling New Zealand spa by some sulphur springs becomes the scene of espionage, the visit of a famous stage actor, and murder. Review

Creating the Canon, Benjamin P. Laird. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. A survey of the scholarly discussions about the production, formation, and authority of the New Testament Canon, including the composition and circulation of the books, the role of theological controversies and councils, and the importance of apostolicity. Review

Pauline Theology as a Way of Life, Joshua W. Jipp. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023. A study of Paul’s theology as an invitation to a flourishing life through participation in Christ, observing parallels and contrasts with both ancient philosophy and modern positive psychology. Review

The Virgin in the Ice (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #6), Ellis Peters. New York: Myterious Press/Open Road, 2014 (originally published 1982). Three missing refugees, an amnesiac monk left for dead, and a dead young girl encased in ice amid civil war and marauding bands challenge the skills of Cadfael and Hugh Beringar. Review

Forty Words for Sorrow (John Cardinal and Lise DeLorme Mystery #1), Giles Blunt. New York: Berkley Books, 2000. When a missing teenager’s body is found in a mineshaft, John Cardinal is re-assigned to a case he’d been pulled off of and is joined by Lise DeLorme, who is also investigating him for corruption. Meanwhile, facts point to a serial killer when another body turns up and another missing youth is traced to their community. Review

We Survived the End of the World, Steven Charleston. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023. For a culture facing apocalyptic times, Charleston proposes we might learn from the prophets of the Native peoples of North America, who brought messages to help their own people face the apocalypse of the colonists and their successors. Review

Making the Low Notes: A Life in Music, Bill Harrison. Saint Louis: Open Books Press, 2023. A memoir of an accomplished former bass player, from his beginnings of learning to play an upright bass, learning from and studying with other players, playing with jazz greats, and the physical and financial challenges of making it. Review

Book of the Month. This month, the honor goes to Jonathan Eig for his new biography on Martin Luther King, Jr., King: A Life. Drawing on recently available materials, he goes deeper into the inner life of King, the FBI’s surveillance of King and the dynamics among civil rights leaders, including Abernathy’s steadying role in King’s life.

Quote of the Month. This quote from which Giles Blunt’s title Forty Words for Sorrow is drawn, expressing how often there are really no words for the inconsolable sorrows we confront:

“Eskimos, it is said, have forty different words for snow. Never mind about snow, Cardinal mused, what people really need is forty words for sorrow. Grief. Heartbreak. Desolation. There were not enough for this childless mother in her empty house” (p. 37).

What I’m Reading. I just finished Ronald Rolheiser’s The Holy Longing, exploring the relationship between our desires and our spiritual life. I think he is as insightful as any on the relationship between our sexuality and our spirituality. I’ve been working through a long, but lavishly illustrated volume on the life of Ramesses II by Peter J. Brand. Michael J. Rhodes thinks about how the Bible’s teaching on justice may be integrated into the church’s efforts to form disciples in Just Discipleship, a book that combines good biblical study with practical applications drawn from his experience in a multi-ethnic church on the south side of Memphis. Sundays on the Go takes the liturgical readings for Sundays in year B of the lectionary cycle (there is one for year A as well) and offers 90 second devotionals–a short reflection, prayer and question for each Sunday. For fun, I’ve just begun Salamandastron, the fifth in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques after a couple months away from the series, and the second in the Albert Campion series, Mystery Mile.

Like the squirrels in my yard collecting food for the winter and building nests in our trees, I’ve been collecting up new books to read and review in the colder months. I feature some in my “Book of the Day” posts on social media (Facebook, Threads, Instagram, and X). Just look for @bobonbooks on any of these sites. Is it a hibernation instinct to store up books for those cold winter nights, or just an excuse to buy books? At any rate, I hope I’ve offered you some ideas for your next trip to the bookstore or library!

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.