It’s a book for people with a passion for justice. For readers who love a well-told story. For students with a hankering for history. It’s a book for folks who want their life to count, but worry it won’t. For would-be world-changers who wonder how to invest their time and energy. For those who would... Continue Reading →
Be Still to See: The Sabbath-Day Gift of Wendell Berry
This week I had the bittersweet pleasure of finishing a wonderful book. I’d read it slowly, savoring it in morsels, and it has taken up space on my bedside table for many moons. But I was near the end, and, having had a rather bad day, gave in to the guilty delight of finishing it... Continue Reading →
Just Mercy
I just finished reading Bryan Stevenson’s bestseller, Just Mercy, and I find myself unsure what to think. Not unsure whether it was a good book—it was. Not questioning the moral imperative for justice and mercy in equal measures, or doubtful whether these apply to me, middle-aged mom though I am. I am perplexed, I think,... Continue Reading →
Fool’s Talk and my DIY Seminary
"As the early church boasted rightly, the message of Jesus is both simple enough for a child to paddle in and deep enough for an elephant to swim in." — Os Guinness, Fool’s Talk So I am a few months in to my DIY seminary project, and delighted to report that I have found several... Continue Reading →
A Few Reasons to Read A Reason for God
"A faith without some doubts is like a human body with no antobodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask the hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic.... Continue Reading →
In which we establish that rock ‘n’ roll is from the devil… sorta.
So you’re driving down the road, scanning the radio for a decent song and you come across “holy, holy, holy.” Must be a worship song, eh? Not the way you might expect. Let’s see what happens if we put together a little mashup of three tunes you could have heard on the radio this week. “Somehow baby,... Continue Reading →
Book Medicine, or The Two-Sentence Book Review Challenge
So I was wandering through Costco one day and I accidentally walked down the book aisle. Well. Accidental is relative. I picked up a paperback called The Little Paris Bookshop and decided to give it a new home, because this was on the back cover: "Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating... Continue Reading →
Contagious Books
I’m fascinated by the way books have the power to shape us. I say “have the power to” because clearly not all books succeed in this mission (or even want to. Don’t think Danielle Steele ever wanted to change the world!) But certain remarkable books sweep across a culture with tsunami force. Some leave a... Continue Reading →
Critics, and other miserable ones.
Just got to see my favorite Broadway show of all time, now repackaged as my new favorite movie. May I just say: Wow. I read a snatch of review: "there will always be people who like overblown emotion," smug critic said. I kept replaying his words in my mind as I watched (and yes, I... Continue Reading →
A beggar at Christmas.
If I have calculated correctly, Christmas is 8 days away. (I was an English major; you do the math!) So maybe, like me, you are watching old movies and pulling out favorite Christmas stories for an annual read-through. Last year, we discovered a story new to our family, a beautiful little old-fashioned tale called "The... Continue Reading →