Musings

The Weekly Wrap: January 12-18

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January 20, 2025

This Monday marks the inauguration of one of the most controversial presidents in U.S. history to a second term. Some of my friends are thrilled. And some are in dread. Personally, I’ve accepted that this is the president the majority of our voting populace chose. I sincerely hope we will be as pleased with our choice in two or four years. As a reader of presidential history, I find this rarely to be the case,

Monday is also the day we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. One of his close associates was John Lewis, who was bludgeoned at Selma, and went on to serve in Congress. David Greenberg’s John Lewis: A Life sits on my “to read” pile and I look forward to reading it this winter. John Lewis lived as a man of faith-inspired hope and grit who never stopped getting into “good trouble.” And he never stopped striving toward the “liberty and justice for all” that expresses one of our loftiest ideals, often unrealized. But he never gave up and I think he is a model for our times.

Finally, Monday night is the College Football championship game. Living in the heart of Ohio State Buckeye country, you must know I bleed scarlet and gray. I have championship ballcaps from 2002 and 2014 and think it time for a “hat trick.” Actually, it will be a hat trick of hat tricks for whoever wins–the ninth championship for the victor. Only Alabama has more at fourteen. I hope for a good game. Marcus Freeman, the Notre Dame coach who has done amazing things with their program, is a Buckeye alumnus. All in all, it will be a packed Monday, especially if Ohio State lofts that championship trophy at the end of the evening.

Five Articles Worth Reading

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban on Tik-Tok if it was not sold by its Chinese company to an American buyer. This has big ramifications for publishers and authors and social media influencers. “Publishers and Authors Wonder: Can Anything Replace BookTok?” explores these consequences and the alternatives to which this triad may pivot.

The Millions has become known for its book previews. Their “Most Anticipated: The Great Winter 2025 Preview” went up this week. They pick 90 books coming out over the next three months by both recognized and new authors that you may consider,

One of the books in that preview is Nobel Prize author Han Kang’s latest, We Do Not Part. which drops next Tuesday. In “Where Han Kang’s Nightmares Come From,” Judith Shulevitz explores the dark history behind her novels, and how other countries are implicated in that history.

Another book in The Millions preview is Zora Neale Hurston’s The Life of Herod the Great, which dropped this month. Ellen Wexler explores “Why Was Zora Neale Hurston So Obsessed With the Biblical Villain Herod the Great?” for The Smithsonian.

Finally. most of us associate Hannah Arendt with her trenchant thought and formidable prose. But did you know she was a poet, as well? “For the Love of the Word” introduces us to Hannah Arendt, the poet.

Quote of the Week

Robert W. Service was born on January 16, 1874. He made this statement which is an inspiration to this plodder:

“It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones who win in the lifelong race.”

Miscellaneous Musings

It’s interesting how different readers react to the same book. I reviewed (and loved) Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake finding myself drawn into the story and its setting. Several other readers just couldn’t get into it, despite listening to Meryl Streep’s narration. I wonder if my reaction might have been different if I listened to it on audiobook. Or perhaps it’s just that no book will appeal to everyone. Probably a good reason not to read what others say you “should” read if you can’t get into it.

I also reviewed Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a book written about the relationship of two game developers. I was not sure I would get into it–not my world–but loved the mix of characters as well as the idea behind the title. A very different book from Tom Lake, and Zevin is a very different writer from Patchett. Isn’t that the delight of books?

Two books I’m reading make me wonder why some writers make their ideas more incomprehensible than needed while others can explain complicated things simply. I suspect audience and convention are two factors. But I admire those who arrive at “the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” I suspect part of the process is living with material long enough to reach that clarity. I wonder if, in our ‘hurry up” society, we lose that clarity and incisiveness.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Chad Brand & Tom Pratt, Seeking the City

Tuesday: Tom Steyer, Cheaper, Faster, Better

Wednesday, Margery Allingham, The mind Readers

Thursday: Jeffrey F. Keuss, ed., Defiant Hope, Active Love

Friday: Joonas Sildre, Between Two Sounds: Arvo Pärt’s journey to His Musical Language

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for January 12-18, 2025!

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

The Weekly Wrap: January 5-11

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Ways of Reading

I’ve posted a couple articles recently (and one more here) about deep reading. One is a review with that title. The other is my 2025 Reading Challenge post, which includes challenges to encourage deep reading. But a comment on the review forced me to be honest. It concerned the quantitative challenges that are about pages and numbers of books read. And the reader asked if I was one of the “old-fashioned” who enjoyed readings and gave them the attention they deserved.

I had to be honest and answer “sometimes.” The truth is, I read a lot of books (237 last year according to Goodreads). It’s not a competition, but rather this retirement avocation of reviewing. I have a stack of books from publishers awaiting reading and reviewing. I generally post at least four reviews a week and typically have five books (plus a book club book) going at a time.

Part of how i do that is that i read different books differently. For example, I am reading a long, somewhat polemical tome which I read quickly to follow the argument (which to be honest didn’t need 900 pages!). Meanwhile, I am savoring a graphic biography of the composer Arvo Pärt, enjoying how the illustrations capture something of the essence of his composing philosophy. On the other hand, a Margery Allingham mystery is a pleasant evening diversion, although her labyrinthine plots do require attention. And an argument for how technology will help us “win’ the climate war is a straightforward matter of following a clearly stated argument. It’s a fast read.

What I don’t want to do is read a deep work of theology or philosophy as I would a murder mystery. Nor can I read poetry as I would a straightforward non-fiction essay or argument. This is what makes reading such a rich part of one’s life. Books offer us both meat and mind candy. We just don’t want to mistake one for the other nor only focus on an exclusive diet of either.

The commentor made one observation that I thought was so good that I will share it: “For me, reading is about enjoying a book and taking the time needed to honour the author and really get into it.” I totally agree!

Five Articles Worth Reading

Speaking of deep reading, I came across this article from William Deresiewicz from last May: “Deep Reading Will Save Your Soul.” He describes how students and faculty, frustrated with the state of reading in higher ed, are fashioning their own programs to deeply engage important works.

I thought this was an amazing rendering of two poems using a “Greek chorus” and instrumental accompaniment, appearing in Open Culture, titled “Laurie Anderson’s Mind-Blowing Performance of C. P. Cavafy’s Poems “Waiting for the Barbarians” & “Ithaca.” “Waiting for the Barbarians” is chilling.

Ought we read escapist lit? In “Trying and Failing to Figure Out “Escapism” in Books,” Molly Templeton says part of the question is what we mean by escapist and part is why we are reading. Sometimes, she suggests, we need a respite to give us perspective when reality is wearying.

There are a number of books on fathers and their maturing children. In “Two Different Ways of Understanding Fatherhood,” Lily Meyer reviews two recent books exploring the transition of men into fatherhood.

From fathers to children. Board books are, for many children, their first encounter with books. In “Jon Klassen on the Art of the Board Book,” the author-illustrator describes the experience of creating books for little ones who can’t read.

Quote of the Week

“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.”

Astrophysicist and writer Stephen Hawking embodied his words. He was born January 8, 1942.

Miscellaneous Musings

I finished Tom Lake this week. I told you I sometimes found her endings disappointing. She nailed this one. Look for my review next week.

I’ve done enough editing work that the editor’s voice plays in my head when I read some books. I’m thinking of a book I’ve mentioned that could easily have shed half of its 900 pages. I suspect the editor found that too daunting, and having contracted for the book, published it more or less in its form. Another book by an author with a very fertile and big picture mind tried to incorporate everything he thought into his work, barely hanging onto his thesis. Less is more is a hard lesson for authors and preachers to learn.

I mentioned the Arvo Pärt graphic biography I am reading. My son bought it for Christmas, along with four CDs of choral works by Pärt. I’m listening to some of it as I write. Arresting music that reflects his faith and immerses me in his distinctive compositional style. The book helps me understand the life journey leading to the creation of such music. What thoughtfully paired gifts!

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Rainie Howard, The Love Habit

Tuesday: Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

Wednesday: Nadya Williams, Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic

Thursday: Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Friday: Neil J. Whitehouse, The Gospel of Jesus Green

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for January 5-11, 2025!

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

The Weekly Wrap: December 29-January 4

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Reading Goals

I’ve observed there are two kinds of bibliophiles. Obviously, both types love to read. And usually, both read lots of books. But one type enjoys setting goals for themselves from pages and books read, to reading particular types of books. Meanwhile, the other type just likes to read, going where their whims take them. Personally, I don’t think there is anything wrong with being either type. After all, we’re reading when much of the world isn’t!

I tend toward the goal setters, not only in books but in other things. Goals stretch me and help me grow and I’ve lived long enough to be realistic. And they are my goals–not someone else’s.

I sign up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge every year. I set it below what I read the past year, but a little more than last year’s goal. Over time, my goals exceed what I once read, but are well within reach for me–so I don’t stress.

But the goals that matter are what make me a better reader. Probably a big one for me this year is to read with greater attention–probably to compensate for my diminishing brain cells. Probably the two things I want to work on is to not mix reading and phones. The other is to get enough sleep so that I am not reading tired.

I’d like to take at least minimal notes on more challenging books–perhaps outlining an argument for example. I might start with one or a few books. I usually don’t take written notes, just mentally reviewing as I go along.

Another thing I want to do is re-read at one book that has been significant to me in the past. The occupational hazard of reviewing is having so many new books to read. Perhaps I’ll even try for a fiction work and a non-fiction work.

Finally, I’ve been reading more poetry. I have collections of poetry of Donne, Dickinson, Sandburg, Eliot, and Langston Hughes among others. I want to read slowly through at least one of these.

Every year, I post a “reading challenge.” This year’s will go up on Monday. No doubt, some of this will be there and some others. And I’d love to hear about your reading goals!

Five Articles Worth Reading

We lost Jimmy Carter this past week, our longest-lived president, at 100. Numerous tributes have appeared about his humanitarian efforts. He was also a prolific author, publishing 32 books. “Jimmy Carter: Poet, Novelist, Memoirist, Philosopher” celebrates his literary legacy.

In 1988, Kurt Vonnegut, wrote a letter for people in 2088. Benedict Cumberbatch gives us an early preview in “Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Kurt Vonnegut’s Letter of Advice to People Living in the Year 2088.” It’s a profound letter and well-read.

Speaking of letters, Cynthia Ozick, in “Voices from the Dead Letter Office” reflects on what we’ve lost with the end of letter-writing.

Ever since my freshman year, when I read one of the coillections of Flannery O’;Connor’s short stories, I’ve been both perplexed and fascinated by her writing. I totally missed Wildcat, a film exploring her life through the lens of the period when she learned that she, like her father, was suffering from lupus, a disease that would claim both of their lives. In “The Peacock’s Tail,” Jeff Reimer reflects on the movie and the connection between O’Connor’s suffering and creativity.

Several years ago, it seemed everywhere I looked, I encountered articles about the New Atheists. Now, increasingly, I’m reading of intellectuals who are coming to faith, like historian Niall Ferguson, who recently converted from atheism to Anglican Christianity. In “How Intellectuals Found God” Peter Savodnik chronicles this trend. The professions of some may surprise you and I think for any of us, the test is “by their fruit you will know them.” But it’s a fascinating account.

Quote of the Week

J.R.R. Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892. We would do well, I think, to follow this advice from him:

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

Miscellaneous Musings

Jimmy Carter was not only a prolific author, but like many of our presidents, a prodigious reader. I enjoyed “In His Reading Life, Jimmy Carter Favored ‘Anything but Politics’” in this week’s New York Times. It’s hard to make excuses about finding time to read when we read of people like him!

I’m reading Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. I’ve admired her writing but not always the endings of her books. I thought The Dutch House got it right. Hoping for two in a row. Watch for my review!

Goodreads has tweaked its Reading Challenge this year to include integration with Kindles and monthly reading challenges, cumulative challenges, and community challenges. The monthly challenge is a pretty low bar–finish one book each month–but 12 books is more than many Americans read.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Bob on Books 2025 Reading Challenge

Tuesday: David W. Swanson, Plundered: The Tangled Roots of Racial and Environmental Injustice

Wednesday: Amy Tan, The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Thursday: Ellis Peters, Brother Cadfael’s Penance

Friday: Rachel B. Griffis, Julie Ooms, and Rachel M. De Smith Roberts, Deep Reading

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for December 29, 2024-January 4, 2025!

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

The Weekly Wrap: December 22-28

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Culture-Keeping

It’s a popular pastime. There is no shortage of those who will tell us what is wrong with our culture. And some who do this want to rid us of the things they think wrong. It might be an academic program, a book, a public health measure, or simply investment in the arts.

I want to think about culture-keeping. What is the good, the true, and the beautiful that we want to preserve and extend? It seems to me that if we don’t answer this question there are many good and precious things we will sacrifice to a banal mass culture whose main object is simply to keep us happy and well-fed.

If you were to ask me the mission of this blog over the past eleven-plus years, it comes down to culture-keeping. Books are one of the means by which we may purvey the good, the true, and the beautiful. Books that lift our eyes to heaven. Texts that instruct us in the intricacies of our world. Books that rouse us to action for the common good. Stories that capture our imagination and inspire us to live with courage, integrity, and compassion.

I’ve written and conversed with you about all of these. It’s the small contribution I feel I can make to the culture-keeping work that needs many hands. In the world of books, I think there are several important culture-keeping priorities. One is to protect our speech freedoms, which give people the right to say things we don’t agree with. Another is to protect our libraries. Access to books and other information sources for all people, especially those with limited resources is an important act of culture-keeping. Finally, we need to protect intellectual property in an AI age where it is free for the scraping.

I recognize there is much more I could write about culture-keeping. What I really hope, however, is to enlist us all in this important work.

Five Articles Worth Reading

One of my regrets in life is that I never learned Latin. In “LatinGate: A Teacher’s Lament,” J.S. Ubhi asserts, “Latin teaches an acuity of language unparalleled anywhere else in the secondary-school curriculum; institutions that offer it do so at a time when the brain’s neuroplasticity is highest.” His lament is that the new government in the UK has cut funding for Latin programs and that this is a great loss.

One of my Christmas traditions is to listen to one of my recordings of Handel’s Messiah, sometimes with musical score in hand. In “The Glorious History of Handel’s Messiah,” Jonathan Kandell recounts the history of this famous composition, a part of Christmas for so many of us.

Forgiveness is hard, yet necessary, if, as Jesus says, we are to live in God’s forgiveness. “On Literary Forgiveness” explores the difficult work of forgiveness in literature.

One of the delicious things of long, cold winter nights is to curl up in our favorite chair with a warm drink and a good books. We may not have a fireplace, but we can still enjoy the “Six Books to Read by the Fire” recommended by Amanda Parrish Morgan.

But if those recommendations don’t excite you, you might look over “The Most Popular Books in US Public Libraries 2024.”

Quote of the Week

My quote of the week is from fellow Ohioan, Louis Bromfield, a popular novelist in the first half of the twentieth century. He was also a pioneer in sustainable agriculture, ahead of his time, as reflected in this comment:

“As soils are depleted, human health, vitality and intelligence go with them.”

Bromfield was born December 27, 1896.

Miscellaneous Musings

We recently visited Wild Birds Unlimited’s store near us for gifts for a bird-loving friend. I’ve been reading Amy Tan’s Backyard Bird Chronicles and it is a walking endorsement for the store. I can’t believe how much this woman spends on feeding the birds in her backyard. But it has resulted in an exquisite birding journal of observations written and drawn over several years.

Earlier, I mentioned stories of courage, integrity, and compassion. Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures was an utter delight to read for this reason. It is written for middle grade readers but this much older reader thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’m coming to the end of The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael after a year and a half of discovering this wonderful series from the 1980’s. In this, we consider Father Cadfael, an the extraordinary offer he makes to give his life for that of the son he had unknowingly fathered before he entered the Benedictines. Peters offers a powerful exploration of the dynamic of the relations of fathers and sons, and of other loyalties, not of blood.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Caroline Fausel, A Simply Healthy Life

Tuesday: Katherine Rundell, Impossible creatures

Wednesday: The Month in Reviews: December 2024

Thursday: Mary Stockwell, Unlikely General: “Mad” Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America

Friday: Sister Prudence Allen, RSM, The Concept of Woman

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for December 22-28, 2024!

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

The Weekly Wrap: December 15-21

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The Buzz

I call it “the buzz” for lack of a better term. It’s when I hear about an author I’m unfamiliar with, not once, but two or more times, sometimes in the same day. That happened today with an author named John Mark Comer, who writes on spiritual formation with a current book called Practicing the Way and a ministry organization by the same name.

Actually, I thought Comer was new to me until I read about him and discovered I had reviewed one of his earlier books, Garden City. What makes it more embarrassing is that i reviewed the book last year! In my defense, I review a lot of books!

But I digress. The buzz is a tip-off to pay attention to an author. That doesn’t mean rushing out to get his or her latest book. But when I hear about someone from very disparate sources, I start asking why this person’s writing is influential. I look at book descriptions and reviews. And if that piques my interest and I think they are offering a fresh perspective on something, I may bite.

I suppose the buzz may be chalked up to coincidence. Sometimes, though, I take it as a prompting to pick up a book by the author. This happened when I heard about Tom Holland’s Dominion from about a dozen people. But it’s thick, and I think I need a book buddy to join me in reading it. Anyone interested?

Five Articles Worth Reading

I think one of the attractions of reading children’s books as an adult is the lessons that speak to us perhaps even more powerfully than to children. In “10 Life Lessons for Grown-Ups From Children’s Classics,” Pamela Paul reminds us of some of these lessons.

Russell Harper is one of the revisors of The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), the bible of writers. in “What Can a Book from 1749 Teach Us About Chicago Style?” he considers Henry Field’s Tom Jones in its originally published form and how it conforms to and departs from The Chicago Manual of Style. It wasw fascinating to see the conventions that have endured.

Zabihollah Mansouri. Not a household name for us, but most Iranians have read something he translated. “In Search of Zabihollah Mansouri” is a fascinating profile of a translator who often “improved” on authors’ works when he thought them too dull for readers.

If you’ve never discovered the delight of reading a novel by Anthony Trollope, “The Way We Don’t Live Now” is a good introduction to why this reader, at least finds Trollope worth reading.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been reading more poetry. This one brought back memories of my grandmother, who passed in 1965: Fossil Record for My Grandmother: A poem for Sunday, by Dara Yen Elerath. One difference between me and the poet. My grandmother’s Bible is a treasured possession.

Quote of the Week

Hortense Calisher was an American novelist and second female president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was born December 20, 1911. She observed:

“It took most people a lifetime to join the human race.”

I’m still thinking about that!

Miscellaneous Musings

One of the things that hasn’t gotten old after over a decade of reviewing is when I write to a publisher for the first time and request a review copy of a book and they say “yes.”

I’ve been losing myself this week in Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures. It’s written for children in the middle grade but I’ve been thoroughly engrossed. There is a hidden world within our world that a young boy enters, a girl with a destiny she has to decide whether to embrace, and a threat to life in the hidden world and our wider world. A wonderful story of love and heroism–things good, true, and beautiful.

For three years, I lived a block from Anthony Wayne Trail in Toledo, Ohio. I’m reading a biography about the Revolutionary War General often known as “Mad” Anthony Wayne. He was the general responsible for defeating an alliance of indigenous tribes in 1795, supported by the British, who lived in the Ohio country, who were unwilling to give up land previously allocated under treaty. The European settlement of every city I’ve lived in in Ohio was made possible by that defeat and the Treaty of Greenville of 1795 when the indigenous tribal confederacy ceded the Ohio lands. Ohio became a state in 1803. But reminders of that indigenous presence are still all around me in the names of rivers, towns, and counties: Mahoning, Maumee, Scioto, Cuyahoga, Olentangy, Sandusky, and Delaware just to name a few.

Next Week’s Reviews

Here’s the lineup for next week:

Monday: Jill Hicks-Keeton, Good Book

Tuesday: Georges Simenon, Maigret and the Wine Merchant

Wednesday: Richard Panek, Pillars of Creation

Thursday: Matthew Levering, Why I am Roman Catholic

Friday: Benjamin T. Quinn & Dennis T. Greeson, The Way of Christ in Culture

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for December 15-21, 2024!

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

The Weekly Wrap: December 8-14

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One Hundred Pages a Day

I found myself chuckling while reading Matthew Walther’s “The Hundred Page Strategy.” Partly to keep up with my review schedule on the blog, I read more than that. Every day. I say that not as a point of pride. There was a time when I would not have thought Walther’s goal possible. Now I can say that it is and he offers good suggestions for those of us who want to read more.

Some are simple, like put the smartphone in a drawer. Some are sensible–don’t try to read nothing but heavy, dense books. He reads at times when other people are either sleeping or otherwise engaged. And he carries a book wherever he goes.

There’s nothing special about one hundred pages. His adherence to this goal felt a bit slavish to me. But his recognition of the ways to make space for reading, for doing something one wants to do more of, is laudable. And a stretch goal does help one become ruthless in eliminating what I would call “voluntary distractions” –the ones we choose that fritter away time.

For some, a goal of reading 30-40 pages a day might be more reasonable. You can finish most average size books in about a week. If you’ve wondered how some people read a book a week, this is how.

But the real deal is not how many pages or books we get through but what gets through to us from them. Maybe it is engaging a diverting plot. Or it could be a piece of social analysis of an issue that matters to you. And Walther’s tips can be helpful, no matter how many pages you read and no matter how consistent you are. Read on, friends!

Five Articles Worth Reading

Since I’ve piqued your interest, here’s Matt Walther’s “The Hundred Page Strategy.”

Nikki Giovanni died this week, at age 81. Veronica writes an appraisal of her work for The New York Times, exploring in “When Nikki Giovanni Was Young, Brilliant and Unafraid” how she maintained her vitality and focus over sixty years.

Rhian Sasseen reviews a new series by Solvej Balle that explores the concept of time through a character caught in a time loop in which she wakes up to November 18 every morning after going to bed on November 18 every night. Sassen’s review, “A Novel That Disrupts a Fundamental Law of the Universe,” appears online at The Atlantic.

“Sci-Fi Writer Arthur C. Clarke Predicted the Rise of Artificial Intelligence & the Existential Questions We Would Need to Answer (1978)” reprises a 1978 NOVA special including interviews with Clark and other luminaries in the history of AI. And yes, the questions we are asking now were being asked over 45 years ago.

in “American Literature and the Liberal Way of Life,” Scott M. Reznick proposes that American literature, particularly from the nineteenth century, is an important resource as we engage our politically fraught landscape.

Quote of the Week

Gustave Flaubert, born December 12, 1821, made this succinct statement for all who pursue success to consider:

“Success is a consequence and must not be a goal.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I’m totally going science geek on William Panek’s Pillars of Creation on the Webb telescope. It’s changing our understanding of the universe (and even our own solar system) as it allows us to see further back in time.

I spent one of the most wonderful hours of my life interviewing Matthew Levering a few years ago. He is a Catholic theologian at Mundelein Seminary, and my one overpowering impression was of sitting with a man who deeply loves the Triune God. It was a conversation where I felt I was beholding wonder and beauty. I just began reading his new, Why I Am Roman Catholic and felt like I was back in that interview. I posted an edited transcript of the interview in two parts: One and Two.

I’ve been reading Maigret and the Wine Merchant by Georges Simenon. The wine merchant, who is the murder victim, is a despicable man, a misogynistic womanizer who used his sexual prowess and business power to humiliate men as well as use women. Yet for Maigret, a human life has been taken, a fundamental rent in the fabric of society. I’m deeply disturbed at the valorization of the alleged killer of United Health Care’s CEO. I’m troubled by UHC’s business practices and believe them unjust. But they do not warrant this vigilante justice. And if we valorize it, there will be more such incidents, and over far more petty grievances. And where will it stop?

Next Week’s Reviews

Here’s the lineup for next week:

Monday: My “Best Books” post, the books I read that I thought best in various categories.

Tuesday: James Hely Hutchinson, Answering the Psalmist’s Perplexity.

Wednesday: Margery Allingham, The China Governess.

Thursday: William Kent Krueger, Thunder Bay

Friday: Christopher M. Hays, Eight Million Exiles.

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for December 8-14, 2024!

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

The Weekly Wrap: December 1-7

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On Giving Books as Gifts

Giving books to a bibliophile can be a fraught enterprise. Ask my family! We have such particular tastes and we read so much! The book gifter runs the risk of buying something we’ve read, or buying something that is not of interest.

The latter is not as much of a danger. Many of us like to stretch and get out of our ruts. My son often seems to find books like this. But this takes knowing your reader and maybe researching what they’ve read. Fortunately apps like Goodreads make this easier. Some create Amazon wish lists. If you want to buy me a book, search my blog to see if I’ve read it. Along the way, you will learn a lot about the kinds of books I’ve read and liked.

Take heart. In every genre, there are so many good choices. Again, my son is good at this. He knows I like baseball books and try to read at least one a year. This year, he found a great book on the World Champion 1948 Indians team. As one who suffered through many years of losing seasons and dashed hopes, it was a delight to read about the year it all came together. He knows I like crime fiction, and he introduced me to the works of Giles Blunt–a real find.

So the pro tip is to do your homework. If you are going to dash out at the last minute, a gift card to your bibliophile friend’s favorite store might be a better choice. And it is always fun to go book shopping when you are spending someone else’s money. With that, I’ll leave you to your holiday shopping!

Five Articles Worth Reading

The New York Times ‘By The Book” interviews are often fascinating glimpses into author’s lives, including what they are reading. I devoured Braiding Sweetgrass and so was delighted to come across an interview with Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Robin Wall Kimmerer Is Learning From ‘Rest as Resistance’“. She made this comment about her new book, The Serviceberry, that put it on my buy list: “It’s an invitation to question the values that underpin our current exploitative relation to the living world. Why do we tolerate an economy that actively destroys what we love?”

Speaking of writers talking about the books they are reading, The Millions runs a compilation of contributions by writers and others that posted this week: A Year in Reading: 2024. This is one I always look forward to.

In “Shakespeare the Suicide?” Larry Lockridge considers the evidence that Shakespeare might have taken his own life. Suicide figures in many of works. Perhaps he decided “not to be.”

Simone Weil was a philosopher, activist, and person of deep faith whose writing and life pose demanding questions of those who read her. In “Whose Weil?,” Jack Hanson discusses the ways modern commentators try to make her more “palatable.”

Finally, Phil Christman, a professor at the University of Michigan, poses the question. “Does Teaching Literature and Writing Have a Future?” Particularly, he considers the closure of English programs and the rise of AI and raises important questions about what a university is for.

Quote of the Week

Joan Didion, born on December 5, 1934, made this trenchant observation:

“You have to pick the places you don’t walk away from.”

I think she is right. These watershed moments define who we are.

Miscellaneous Musings

While reading Quentin J. Schultze’s You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!, in which he draws life lessons from the movie A Christmas Story, I re-watched this classic, filmed in Cleveland while we lived there. There’s a lot of wisdom in that movie and it reminded me of Christmases of my youth (and a few schoolyard bullies).

And while I’m on the subject of Cleveland, one of the great bookstores on Cleveland’s East Side is Loganberry Books. They are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary TODAY! I’m thrilled that this indie has survived and thrived by serving the bookloving community of Cleveland. Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!

This week also brought news of a new bookstore in Columbus, Clintonville Books, located in the neighborhood of the same name. If you know Columbus, you know that Clintonville is a bookstore kind of place. Can’t wait to visit! I doubt I’ll be around to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary, but I hope they enjoy a good long run in Clintonville.

Next Week’s Reviews

Here’s what I expect to be reviewing next week. I may also do a special post on my “Best of the Year” books.

Monday: Stuart Murray, The New Anabaptists

Tuesday: Stuart M. Kaminsky, Lieberman’s Day

Wednesday: Matthew Desmond, Poverty, By America

Thursday: Quentin J. Schultze, You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!

Friday: Jason Landsel, Richard Mommsen, and Sankha Banerjee, By Fire: The Jakob Hutter Story

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for December 1-7, 2024!

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

The Weekly Wrap: November 24-30

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The Silent Book Club Boom

Back in 2016, I posted an article about Silent Reading Parties. No thanks to me, I’m sure, this idea has caught on in a big way. Healthline, as part of a feature on the social and cognitive benefits of reading, highlighted Silent Book Club, an organization that now has 1400 chapters and counting worldwide.

The idea is simple and genius. Get a group of friends together, everyone bring your own book in whatever format you wish (with headphones for audiobooks). Here’s how many break down the time:

  • 30 minutes–people arrive, order drinks/food, share what they’re reading
  • 60 minutes–quiet reading
  • 30 minutes–optional socializing, or just keep reading

Groups can adjust the times to fit their needs. Most meet monthly.

It looks like a number of these are hosted by bookstores, often offering discounts on books people buy during these gatherings. Makes sense.

What also makes sense is the idea of reading in companionable silence without having your reading choices determined by a club. And its always fun to talk books with other bookworms. For those who don’t like book clubs but like to talk about books with others, this might be something to try. The Silent Book Club website includes a map to help you find a group near you as well as help starting a group of your own.

Five Articles Worth Reading

You don’t have to tell most readers the benefits of reading. But if you want to encourage others to take up the habit, “How Reading Can Help Reduce Stress and Anxiety” discusses the mental health benefits of reading.

Poetry and prayer have a connection going back to Israel’s Psalms and other Ancient Near East Literature. Ed Simon explores the close connection of prayer and poetry throughout literature in “Prayer is Poetry.”

Friends who have seen the Book of Kells describe it as one of the most beautiful books in the world. Plus, it is housed in the incredible Trinity College Library in Dublin. Open Culture offers a great introduction to this illuminated manuscript, including a six-plus minute video at “An Introduction to the Astonishing Book of Kells, the Iconic Illuminated Manuscript.”

From ancient manuscripts to this year’s books. NPR just posted its “Books We Love” feature for 2024 with 350 picks from their staff. In addition, you can access their choices going back to 2013!

Whether you like Taylor Swift or not, she has revolutionized the music industry, including re-recording much of her work, enhanced the fan base of the Kansas City Chiefs, and recently concluded her Eras tour, breaking concert attendance, gross income, and other records. Now, in publishing her own book on the tour, she’s changing the way some celebrities relate to publishers. The Atlantic has the story in “Taylor Swift Is a Perfect Example of How Publishing Is Changing.”

Quote of the Week

“Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor.”

This is one of those axioms that is part of our collective store of wisdom. But who said it? English poet and hymn writer William Cowper, who was born November 25, 1731.

Miscellaneous Musings

I was thrilled to learn today that a recording by two of my favorite artists is coming out this weekend. Phil Keaggy is an incredible guitarist from my hometown of Youngstown. Malcolm Guite is a contemporary poet, priest, and scholar with a marvelous English accent. They have combined talents with Guite reciting poetry and Keaggy providing guitar accompaniment in “Strings and Sonnets.” I wish I could recite poetry like Guite does!

Speaking of poetry, I’ve been reading Dana Gioia’s Meet Me At the Lighthouse. “Tinsel, Frankincense, and Fir” reminds me of the “ghosts” behind some of the ornaments we hang. I have to admit to finding things I like about Gioia’s work and ways I connect every time I read him!

Just finished Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, this year’s Booker Prize winner. While I think I’ve read better fiction in 2024, Harvey does capture something I’ve heard about before–seeing our planet from space is transformative–both its beauty and precarity. There is NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) footage online that gives some sense of what the fictional International Space Station astronauts and cosmonauts experience in Harvey’s work.

Next Week’s Reviews

Here’s what I expect to be reviewing next week:

Monday will be my monthly “Month in Reviews” post recapping my November reviews.

Tuesday: Agatha Christie’s One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Wednesday: Samantha Harvey’s Orbital

Thursday: Dana Gioia, Meet Me At the Lighthouse

Friday: Mike Cosper, The Church in Dark Times

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for November 17-23, 2024!

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

The Weekly Wrap: November 17-23

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Listening to Versus Believing the Science

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve geeked out on science. I used to hang out at my local newsstand when the new issue of Popular Science came out. As a psych major in college, one of my favorite classes was the physiological psych class. I spent hours fascinated with the chemistry of nerve synapses and the structures of the brain. I never found this in conflict with my faith but rather delighted that God gave us minds and means to understand his world and the cosmos beyond so that we could take better care of it and ourselves.,

There is quite a conflict these days between science skeptics and those who “believe the science.” As in so many of the binaries created in our divisive discourse, I find myself in neither camp. The very act of writing this piece depends heavily on numerous scientific breakthroughs and the applied technologies that result. On the other hand, “I believe in science” is not part of the creed I profess. I have encountered reductionistic scientism that makes science the be-all and end-all, sometimes as rigidly dogmatic as the most rigid fundamentalist.

My own posture is one of listening to science. Particularly, I am listening to see if the conclusions of scientists are the best explanation of their data. And if it is, I consider the implications of what they propound–for my health and for the welfare of my fellow creatures. My listening leads to prayers for discerning wisdom in the application of scientific findings–which can help or harm.

So I will continue to read, review, and recommend science writing. Contrary to the portrayals of some, I know too many dedicated scientists who have devoted their lives and energies to understand creation, and to turn that knowledge to benefit the common good. They have earned a hearing, at least from me. So I will listen and learn to better understand the real world in which we live.

Five Articles Worth Reading

Speaking of science, I’ve mentioned Nature’s Andrew Robinson who reviews the latest science writing. “DNA need not apply: Books in brief” is his latest installment and offered some interesting recommendations, including a book on AI.

Haruki Murakami’s long-awaited new novel is out. Junot Diaz thinks that dedicated readers of Murakami may have a sense of deja vu, which he elaborates in his review: “Haruki Murakami’s New Novel Doesn’t Feel All That New.”

It has become increasingly common for people who were raised Christian to look beyond the bounds of their traditional religion to find spiritual life. “In Search of a Faith Beyond Religion,” a review of a new book, helped me understand some of the reasons people turn away from institutional Christianity.

Open Culture posted a fascinating clip, “The Final Days of Leo Tolstoy Captured in Rare Footage from 1910.”

Vanity Fair broke a story this week (behind a paywall) that during his forties, Cormac McCarthy engaged in an intimate relationship (statutory rape) with a seventeen year old who served as something of a muse in several of his works. O. Alan Noble, an English professor who uses McCarthy’s work, discusses “When Your Literary Heroes (Inevitably) Fail You” and how he is thinking about McCarthy’s moral failures and using McCarthy in his classes.

Quote of the Week

South African novelist Nadine Gordimer was born on November 20, 1923. This statement defined for me the difference between formal, positional power and moral authority:

“There is no moral authority like that of sacrifice.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I’ve started a new feature at my Bob on Books Facebook page, a weekly “reel”, Bob on Poetry. This past week, I recited William Butler Yeats “The Second Coming.” The poem seems quite prescient for our current day. You may listen here and read the text of the poem here. By the way, if you haven’t discovered it, Poetry Foundation is a wonderful online poetry resource.

I’ve been reading Adam Higgenbotham’s Challenger and came today to the part where Challenger blows up. It was hard to relive that day and the images from 1986. I kept hoping that, this time, the story would be different. What was more sobering was to imagine the engineers who argued vigorously against the launch only to be overridden by senior executives, watching the launch.

It was fun to receive the mail Tuesday and Wednesday. Between those two days, nine books arrived, kind of like Christmas coming early. Among them was Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, Hanif Abdurraqib’s latest, and a graphic biography of the life of Jakob Hutter, an early Anabaptist.

Next Week’s Reviews

Here’s what I expect to be reviewing next week:

Challenger, Adam Higgenbotham

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion

The Integration Journey: A Student’s Guide to Faith, Culture, and Psychology, by William B. Whitney and Carissa Dwiwardani

Remarriage in Early Christianity, A. Andrew Das

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for November 17-23, 2024!

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

The Weekly Wrap: November 10-16

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When Our Kids Like Different Books

An unusual event happened yesterday. I posted about a book I’m reading (Challenger by Adam Higgenbotham). My son commented that he wanted to read it when I finished it. This doesn’t happen very often. We generally read very different stuff, despite all the stories we read together when he was young.

This brings to mind Dave Kim’s story of all the books he gave his son. And what did he want? Heidi! “I Gave My Son the Books I Loved. He Chose ‘Heidi’ Instead” is a touching account of bonds between father and son when reading tastes differed.

That’s the opportunity when tastes differ. If nothing else, my son has introduced me to graphic novels and reminded me of how much I enjoyed math puzzle books when I was young. He reads science fiction published after the 1970’s! I have given him some Octavia E. Butler books as well as my Bradbury and Asimov collections.

Nearly always, he chooses great gifts of books–often things off my beaten paths that usually turn out to be pretty good reads. Because much of what he reads is technical math stuff, he gives me reading lists for gifts suggestions.

The one corollary of our differing tastes is that he has no interest in inheriting nearly any of my books! So an interesting task of these years is finding them a good home through donations and re-selling. And I wondered what I’d be doing in retirement?

Five Articles Worth Reading

I don’t know a single bibliophile who gets enough time to read. “So many books; so little time” is our mantra. In “Maximizing Time for Reading,” Blake Butler offers some great reading hacks for making the most of our time, and for reading widely.

Butler mentions reading Thomas Pynchon several times in his article. I came across this profile from 2013 of Pynchon, “On the Thomas Pynchon Trail: From the Long Island of His Boyhood to the ‘Yupper West Side’ of His New Novel.” He’s a recluse and something of an enigma. I’ve never tackled him and I wonder if I will. Should I?

Antigone, a website dedicated the Greek and Latin classics, reproduced “Machines or Mind? The Essay that Launched the Loebs,” written by W.H.D. Rouse, editor of the Loeb Classical Library series, in 1911. The series is well-known among classicists for 9its volumes in green cloth (Greek) or red cloth (Latin). In it, he enthusiastically answers the question, “What is the use of Greek and Latin literature?”

A particular use of literature through the ages has been to explore why human beings live in a tension of vice and virtue. Ed Simon explores this in the LitHub article “Deadly Sins and Heavenly Virtues: On the Timeless Duality of Being Human.”

This week, Samantha Harvey won the prestigious Booker Prize for Orbital, beating out the likes of Percival Everett and Rachel Kushner. The novel’s focus is on astronauts and cosmonauts orbiting the earth and what they experience. The New York Times profiles her and the book in “Samantha Harvey’s ‘Orbital’ Wins 2024 Booker Prize.” The book was new to me, but I just ordered it.

Quote of the Week

Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850. He anticipates our modern day “thankfulness journals” when he writes:

“Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I finished Bob Woodward’s War the other day. What most struck me in this week of cabinet appointments was the experienced, highly competent, and dedicated people who are advising President Biden through the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. There is far more than a political agenda at stake.

I’ve read two books recently that have touched on the friendship between revivalist George Whitefield and Ben Franklin, a theist at best. Each immeasurably helped the other in a friendship that had an incalculable impact on our history. Whitefield never succeeded in converting Franklin. Franklin failed to persuade Whitefield to ease up on his relentless pace. But the two men profoundly respected each other. Would that there were more such friendships.

There has been a significant exodus from X, formerly known as Twitter, since the election. I haven’t left (yet), but my follower counts have dropped noticeably. Many have migrated to Bluesky, which mirrors the look and vibe of early Twitter. One of those migrants yesterday was Stephen King, who wrote, “I quit Twitter. Eleven years, man. It really changed. Grew dark.” If Stephen King thinks it is dark…

I created an account this week and you can find me @bobonbooks.bsky.social. One cool feature is “starter packs” which connect you to others with similar interests.

Next Week’s Reviews

A new feature at The Weekly Wrap is simply a list of the books I’ll be reviewing next week. This is subject to some change due to reading time and life events. Here’s next week’s lineup:

Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf (her latest)

Sarah E. Westfall, The Way of Belonging

Ellis Peters, The Holy Thief (the nineteenth in the Cadfael series)

Elesha J. Coffman, Turning Points in American Church History

I may have one other–stay tuned!

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for November 10-16, 2024!

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