Thanksgiving

The Weekly Wrap: November 23-29

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The Weekly Wrap: November 23-29

Thanksgiving Reflections of a Bibliophile

We celebrated Thanksgiving in the United States on Thursday. It is often the custom to share for what we are thankful, often at the overladen dinner table! But if I were to share for what I’m thankful for as a bibliophile, no one would get in a word edgewise! So, here’s my chance.

First of all, there are the books themselves! They entertain, capture the imagination, inform, and inspire. They enlarge my world and make it more interesting.

Then there are those who sell them! Almost to the person, booksellers are people who share my booklove and love to serve others by connecting them with books they’ll love. I most admire those who own bookstore–always a challenging financial proposition and a labor of love. I don’t know any rich booksellers.

It’s been a privilege to connect with a number of authors. No matter what I think of their books, I am aware of the arduous work of writing and rewriting and the courage to believe others will be interested in what they’ve written. I’m thankful for the disciplined passion that gives birth to their books.

Then there are the publishers. I’m especially grateful for the small publishers who take the risks to bring new authors to our attention. I think of all the people in publishing houses whose work makes this possible: editors, publicists, graphic designers, marketers, and the administrative people who support the enterprise.

A group I increasingly admire are librarians. They do so much more for their communities than help us borrow the books we want or learn about those we might like. They serve a variety of community needs from job searches to dealing with drug overdoses. Increasingly, they are the front line troops ensuring that the books we want, no matter how controversial for some, are available to read.

Finally, as a “book influencer,” I have the chance to interact with many other booklovers and my life is so rich for it. I’m constantly learning from their insights and book recommendations. And its a joy when I learn a review has helped someone find a book they love. Summing it all up, there is so much for which I’m grateful–and I’ve spared you!

But if only my beloved Buckeyes can break their losing streak today and defeat That Team Up North! Then all will be right in my corner of the world!

Five Articles Worth Reading

“Bibliomania, the only hobby which is also a mental health affliction. The person with piles of titles on their nightstand, in their closet, in the trunk of their car. Books in front of books on their bookshelf.” Ed Simon explores why this is true of so many of us as bibliophiles in “Nothing Better Than a Whole Lot of Books: In Praise of Bibliomania.”

But what happens to all those books when we die? Kelly Scott Franklin especially explores the fate of all the e-books on our readers as he deals with his mother’s passing. Along the way, he asks profounder questions about our lives, libraries, and literary productions in “The Bad News.”

Meanwhile, literary studies are facing steep cuts in many of our universities. Against that backdrop, Johanna Winant celebrates her experience teaching of close reading through her classroom interactions with appreciative students. She raises important question of what we are in danger of losing in “The Claims of Close Reading.”

The name Czesław Miłosz keeps coming up for me–a signal that I ought to explore his work. This article, “A Quarrel with the World,” piques my interest as it explores his underground work and internment in World War Two and how Communists tried to claim him as one of theirs, necessitating his flight from Poland to France.

Finally, in early November, Marilynne Robinson received the Lewis H. Lapham award from Harpers Magazine. In her brief remarks, she incisively puts the case for the necessary work of maintaining our democracy. You can read her remarks in “‘The Voice of a Free People is Full of Turbulence and Grace.’ Marilynne Robinson Accepts the Lewis H. Lapham Award.“

Quote of the Week

Poet and hymnwriter William Cowper (pronounced as we would pronounce “Cooper”), was born on November 26, 1731. I will leave you with this aphorism, a rhyming couplet:

“They whom truth and wisdom lead, can gather honey from a weed.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I finished one of the more profound books this week that I’ve read in some time. Esther Lightcap Meek’s Loving to Know explores what she calls “covenant epistemology” which she frames as a radical alternative to both Cartesian and post-modern epistemologies. She draws heavily on the work of Michael Polanyi to propose a way of leaning that is neither merely objective nor subjective but personal.

I also finished Rick Atkinson’s Fate of the Day, the second in his planned trilogy of Revolutionary War books. What most impressed me was that to a significant extent the colonists, and especially Washington, won by avoiding outright defeat, until France could help administer the final coup de grace.

Finally, I am returning to a writer whose work I’ve loved, Tish Harrison Warren. An Anglican priest and former New York Times op-ed writer, she wrote a book a couple years ago, Advent, that a book group I’m a part of is reading. I like her idea of “making Christmas weird, again.”

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: The Month in Reviews: November 2025

Tuesday: Tish Harrison Warren, Advent

Wednesday: Mark R. Glanville, Preaching in a New Key

Thursday: Mark Tabb, Am I a Better Christian on Zoloft?

Friday: David McCullough, Brave Companions

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for November 23-29.

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

The Weekly Wrap: November 16-22

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The Weekly Wrap November 16-22

Bookstore Serendipity

“Serendipity” was one of Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Day” offerings. They defined it as “luck in finding valuable or pleasant things unlooked for.” And that is why I love going to bookstores, or any book sale–even a box at a garage sale!

I asked this on my Facebook page this week: “When you visit a physical bookstore do you tend to be looking for particular books or do you prefer the “surprise me” approach?” From this poll, it appears I’m not alone. One person wrote, “it is very simple, I don’t find books, they find me.”

However, there were a number of “boths.” I’m also like that when I go to Barnes & Noble. I often have a book or two I’m looking for. But what I walk out with doesn’t always reflect that. For example, on my most recent trip, I had a book I was looking for, couldn’t find it but spotted two others that I bought. One was by a favorite author. The other was non-fiction that caught my fancy. I feel like those books found me!

But at a used bookstore or any other book sale, serendipity reigns supreme. I never know what I’m going to find. Here are examples of three of my favorite finds. First was Kenneth Latourette’s history of Christianity in one volume at an out of the way bookstore run by a former college professor. The second was Paige Smith’s two-volume biography of John Adams in a slip case. I honestly can’t remember where I found it. Finally, I found a like-new two volume set of Raymond Brown’s Death of the Messiah at our local Half Price when they used to have 50 percent off sales. Half price of half price–I think I saved $60!

But saving money is only part of it. Often, it is spotting one of those “I’ve always wanted to read that” books. And sometimes, it is just picking up something you’ve never heard of before. But it looks so intriguing. Valuable or pleasant things unlooked for–that’s one of the joys of bookstores!

Five Articles Worth Reading

Ever wonder what it was like to be the daughter of On the Road author Jack Kerouac? Jan Kerouac’s novel Baby Driver conveys much of that. It turns out he wasn’t much of a father. He didn’t even recognize her as his daughter until a paternity test made that unavoidable. This year NYRB Classics has reissued the book. “Father, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?” is Shane Devine’s review for the Hedgehog Review.

A trend in contemporary literature is the plotless novel. That is, it explores the inner life of its protagonist. If you are interested in character development but want a plot, M.L. Rio recommends “Eight Plot-Heavy Books That Will Keep You Turning Pages.”

Were you one of those like me who learned how to type at an actual typewriter? Some authors still swear by them. Somewhere we still have my wife’s college typewriter, the one on which she typed all my seminary papers, working from my hand-written text! She got a dinner out for every paper. If we were ever to break it out, I suspect it would need service. I came across this fascinating photo essay about one of the surviving repair shops that I thought you’d like: “How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life.”

Remember the great foodies of the past? For example, Julia Child or Anthony Bourdain? “Who Was the Foodie?” explores what it means to be a food influencer in a social media age. And one of the interesting ideas is that good food is about more than preparation and taste. Rather it is about the source of that food.

Speaking of food, next Thursday is the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States. JSTOR has put together a potpourri of “Thanksgiving Stories” with all the fixings. A veritable feast!

Quote of the Week

Feminist novelist (The Women’s Room) Nancy French was born November 21, 1929. Here’s something she said that offers much to ponder:

“Fear is a question. What are you afraid of and why? Our fears are a treasure house of self-knowledge if we explore them.“

Miscellaneous Musings

Titles are meant to grab attention as well as give a hint of what a book is about. How the Rhino Lost His Horn by Jack Rathmell caught mine. It’s a narrative of the author’s travels from Appalachia to Africa. It was one of those rare books I accept for review because the author pitched the book personally. That’s always an adventure in itself!

I received another book recently titled In Guns We Trust. It is subtitled “The Unholy Trinity of White Evangelicals, Politics, and Firearms.” The cover also shows an image of Jesus holding an assault style rifle. The book compares its work to that of Tim Alberta in The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory as an effort to understand pro-firearm evangelicals from the inside. I hope it is an honest effort to understand, but the cover came across as polemical to me. But authors don’t always have a lot of control over these things. I don’t think polemics will get us to constructive measures to address the pervasiveness of guns and gun violence in American culture.

Next week I’ll be reviewing Paul Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine, a trenchant critique of techno-capitalism. One thing that struck me is how much he mentions Jacques Ellul and Lewis Mumford, who foresaw these things more than a half-century ago. And what arrived today? Questioning Technology with Jacques Ellul. It is a collection of essays co-edited by a good friend and Ellul scholar, David W. Gill. What a treat!

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Catherine McNeil and Jason Hague, Mid-Faith Crisis.

Tuesday: Leyla K King, Daughters of Palestine.

Wednesday: Paul Kingsnorth, Against the Machine.

Thursday: Charlie Mackesy, Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm.

Friday: Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms.

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for November 16-22.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the United States!

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

Thanksgiving in Terrible Times

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The Apostle Paul tells us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

I find myself wondering in our deeply fraught times how we do this without descending into triteness–a polyannish view of life that ignores or pretends that terrible things don’t exist.

I’m not sure I quite have this figured out but here are a few thoughts on this Thanksgiving Day of 2023.

One part is for us to remember Paul’s previous statement: pray continually. Prayer means taking the troubles we see, whether a swiftly warming planet, mass shootings, the atrocities of warfare, the propensity of our corrosive political discourse to undermine the rule of law and the structures of governance, our nation’s efforts to heal the wounds our seizure of indigenous lands and the various forms of forced subjugation of another people. Add to this our private pains and griefs. There is enough of this to keep us praying continually, for sure–perhaps crying out to God, “how long?”

But the other part of this is what I call the problem of goodness. Amid the evils of the world, goodness endures. A food pantry my church hosts fed three hundred families. I recall when seventy-five was stretch. This was overwheming, yet all were fed. Jesus still multiplies loaves and fishes, including the contributions of neighboring churches and local groceries. Evening walks overwhelmed me at times this fall with the riot of color. A myriad of dedicated caregivers, backed by medical researchers, supported by many who prayed, gave a young boy we know his life back after a rare and aggressive bone cancer. A runner, he just walked a 5K for the first time since his illness. Even the seemingly trite things of family, friends, and food are wonders–exquisitely unique human beings partaking of the fruit of the creation and of other creatures also nourished by that creation. As I write, I’m listening to vintage Simon & Garfunkel singing “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”– a song that spoke comfort and peace into another fraught time of the early 1970’s and I marvel at the good power of musical artistry.

So much goodness that endures, even in our darkest circumstances. I choose to believe that it is a harbinger of the greater goodness of God’s new creation. We pray continually. And we give thanks. It is the holding of these together that prevents thanksgiving from ever becoming trite. There is a deeper magic before the advent of evil in the creation as C.S. Lewis taught us in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. As we pray and wait, we express our faith and hope that all evils will be undone and reversed. As we give thanks, we attest that there is a Providence that evil will not defeat. Our delight in goodness is perhaps one of the most subversive things we may do against the power of evil.

As we share the goodness of our tables with others, we defy those who would give despair the last word. Every time we give thanks we proclaim that we know better.

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Thank You, Youngstown!

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I finished Joseph Lambert, Jr.’s biography of David Tod this week (review). It’s really a fine piece of writing about one of Youngstown’s most illustrious citizens. If you like Youngstown history, you will want to pick up a copy! In the conclusion, he quotes Tod as saying, “I would not have been born anywhere else than in Youngstown if I could.” I find myself in thorough agreement with David Tod. And since it is the Saturday before Thanksgiving, I thought I’d share some of the reasons I’m thankful to have been born and grow up in Youngstown.

  1. Maybe it goes without saying, but it was where my family was. My father John and mother Dorothea (who had what I think is one of the most beautiful of names) loved me and raised me right. I have fond memories of time spent with both sets of grandparents. My brother, sister, and I were greatly blessed in this regard.
  2. I’m thankful for Dr. James Birch, without whom I might not have been alive. I remember him making housecalls with his black physicians bag and the toys in the waiting room of his office.
  3. Mill Creek Park has got to be high on the list. I loved hikes there with my dad as a kid. Naturalists like Lindley Vickers and Bill Whitehouse helped us understand the delights of this place. From our wedding pictures to my parents sixtieth wedding anniversary, Fellows Riverside Gardens is a place that carried so many special memories.
  4. I’m thankful for good memories of downtown Youngstown from McCrory’s soda fouintain to milk shakes at Strouss’. I think of the endless fascination of the stamp counter on Strouss’ mezzanine, and being able to watch shoppers on the main floor. In later years, I had the chance to work at another of those grand department stores, McKelvey’s. I remember all the decorations and crowds at the holidays.
  5. I learned the value of work and responsibility not only from my dad but from the customers I cut grass and shoveled snow for, and delivered papers to. Everybody worked hard in my neighborhood and from when I was ten or so, I learned the satisfaction of earning my own money.
  6. Of course, you have to be thankful for so much good food! At this season, I think of my mom’s turkey dressing and her cranberry salad with a dash of 7-Up. There is so much good food that I have written about.
  7. I will forever be grateful for the dedicated teachers in every school I attended from Mrs Smith who taught me to read to Mr. Erickson who taught me to love math. They, along with Youngstown’s libraries, fostered in me a love of learning that has endured throughout my life.
  8. Youngstown State made it possible for me to get a college education. Between scholarships and my own earnings and the low tuition, I finished without any debt. That and a number of great professors and the chance to make a number of new friends was a gift.
  9. I’m thankful that I met my wife in Youngstown, over 50 years ago (and married for 45). We’ve had such a rich and good life together and our shared upbringing in Youngstown is a part of the bond between us.
  10. Finally, I am thankful for you, all my Youngstown readers. You have taught me so much about the hometown I try to write about, over nearly ten years. You confirm my own sense of what a great good place Youngstown was for us all.

I could go on and on. But I want to leave room for you. What are you thankful for because you grew up in Youngstown?

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Bob on Books Gives Thanks

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I am blessed that I will be at a table like this today. Not everyone has that opportunity and I so appreciate those who extend food and hospitality to those otherwise not able to celebrate.

I also consider myself deeply blessed to be able to read, review, and write about books. I don’t make money from that other than the exchange of getting books for free in exchange for writing reviews. I’ve always loved reading and sharing what I’ve learned, from the time I was a kid, and to do this is a gift for which I’m thankful.

I’m thankful to you, the reader. It is wonderful not to talk to oneself, to know others are reading, and interested, like me in finding that next great book to read. Reading is social and not just solitary–when you discover a good book, you can’t help but talk about it. I’ve been blogging over nine years now, and our interactions, even when you correct my grammar or infelicities, has made it so rewarding.

I’m always so thankful for the writers who pour their energy into getting words on the page. When I read about the writing life, I find most writers only write a few hours a day. It’s not because it is an easy life, but rather it is some of the most demanding work to put a story or a narrative into words. Thank you Celeste Ng, James Baldwin, John Steinbeck, Ngaio Marsh, Louise Penny, and so many others who have enriched my life through your hard work.

Speaking of Louise Penny, her latest book drops in the next week. That’s cause for Thanksgiving!

I’m thankful for publishing houses–for the work of acquiring manuscripts, negotiating contracts, editing draft after draft, and going from draft to publication. I’m especially grateful for some of the small publishers and university presses who provide a platform for great writing and scholarship outside the mainstream.

I’m grateful for the people who have embraced the calling of bookseller. The indie booksellers have my admiration, and whenever I can do it, my trade. As that big online bookseller scales back their book buying, indie booksellers have been filling the gap. The whole bookselling ecosystem gets my thanks though–from my local Barnes and Noble to the second hand sellers from Half Price Books to indie booksellers selling everything from recent backlist books to antiquarian books–in some cases, those treasures one finds when cleaning out grandma’s house.

I’m grateful for librarians who serve the public and, in educational settings, students and researchers. They do so much more than curate and check in books, sometimes even saving people from drug overdoses.

I’m grateful for teachers who cultivated my love of reading. I have several friends teaching young readers. I’m so grateful for you!

I’m always grateful for those book publicists who handle my review requests along with so many others, and often are key promoters of books. I’ve had the privilege of working with several who do this work with excellence, making my life as a reviewer so much easier.

I’m grateful for all the people who deliver books to my mailbox or doorstep. We like to complain about these people, but I’m grateful for all they do and can think of only rare instances when I’ve had delivery issues.

I’m grateful for the First Amendment that protects authors, publishers, and even reviewers like me. Our speech, press, and religious freedoms are remarkable when you consider global history. It is also something I don’t take for granted. It is always tempting to shut down ideas we don’t like. It can happen here.

Finally, I’m so grateful for books, this wonderful cultural invention. And I am profoundly grateful for the “village” that makes possible that stack by my bedside. Aren’t we all?

Happy Thanksgiving, my bookish friends!

My Thoughts on Receiving the Vaccine

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This picture was taken moments after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine on March 9. We were sitting in the parking lot outside the Celeste Center at the Ohio state fairgrounds for our fifteen minute wait after receiving our shots from the efficient volunteers working with the Columbus Health Department. As I reflect on all this, I find myself filled with a profound sense of gratitude to God in so many ways:

  • For those volunteers–EMTs, nurses, and other health professionals serving on their day off.
  • For our local public health officials, who organized this vaccine site and have provided invaluable health advice throughout the pandemic.
  • For genetic sequencing technology that made it possible for scientists around the world to have the complete genome of the COVID virus, the operating instructions that make the virus work.
  • For the researchers who invested years in their academic training and long hours in vaccine research.
  • For new vaccine technologies, including the mRNA technology that helped reduce the time to initially make the vaccine and is tailored to activate my body’s immune response to the spike proteins on the virus that enable the virus to infect us. From what I hear, it is also easily tweaked, as the virus mutates.
  • For the regulatory agencies like the FDA that ensured that the vaccine is safe and effective through the standard process of testing the vaccine.
  • It is amazing that it is over 90 percent effective. Flu vaccines are typically 40-60 percent effective. The hopes with COVID was a vaccine that was 50 percent effective.
  • For both the Trump and Biden administrations who facilitated the development, production, and distribution of the vaccines (although companies did not receive payments from the government until vaccines were delivered). Despite the highly partisan nature of our politics at present, both parties and administration contributed to this amazing effort.
  • For our state’s governor who has wrestled with the hard decisions balancing lives and livelihoods throughout the pandemic, and opening vaccination to all adults a month ahead of the president’s target. We can argue ways it might have been done better or differently, but I’m thankful for not having to make those decisions and our governor’s willingness to make hard and sometimes unpopular decisions. That is good servant leadership.
  • I’m grateful that we are already seeing lower case numbers, lower hospitalizations, and lower death numbers, especially among our elderly population (and I hope we all team up to keep it that way).
  • I’m grateful for the possibility in the next week of being able to share a meal in person with vaccinated friends in safety.
  • I’m grateful that because of the vaccine that even if I should be infected, it is far less likely that I can infect others. Throughout this, my concern is less that I’ll be infected than that I could infect and be the source of serious illness in someone I love.
  • Perhaps above all, I find myself in wonder afresh that the vaccine and the research that produced it is an expression of what it means to be created in the image of God and given dominion under God for his creation. It means the capacity to create vaccines that subdue viruses. I see vaccines like the one in my arm as yet another way in which we were made to glorify God and love our neighbors.

Finally, as I mentioned, I’m glad for a chance to do something tangible to love my neighbor. I see vaccines (like masks) as not so much about protecting me as protecting others. Because of the requirements of social distancing and our age, we’ve not been able to do things with people. We’ve found other ways to care, but it is nice to do something physical and not virtual that makes a difference.

Side effects? They’ve been minimal for both of us. I had a sore arm for a day or so after–like most vaccines, and was a bit tired the night of the second shot. My wife had a bit more–tiredness for a couple days and a rash near the injection site that disappeared within three days–all within the range of normal.

As I’ve noted previously, I’m not into vaccine arguments. I studied the information and made my personal decision a long time ago. Now I’ve acted on that decision. I’m won’t argue with you about yours. But I will give thanks that I could make the decision I did.