read full post >

A collection of delightful Christmas stories from the talented Connie Willis-- some of them are heartwarming, others are creepy or a bit disturbing, but all of them will entertain you-- and the best will you leave you wondering just a bit. Willis is a big fan of Christmas, and has a great deal of respect for all the drama and power of the original Christmas story, and the stories collected here are unique and strange and wonderful.

A few of my favorite stories in this collection: the titular "Miracle", which plays out like some of Willis' other screwball romantic comedies; the wonderful story "Inn", where one choir member is the only person not too busy with Christmas to notice a strange homeless couple in the snow outside the church, and discovers that the young couple is really Joseph and a very pregnant Mary, lost (in time as well as space) on their way to Bethlehem; "Cat's Paw" presents a fascinating Christmas mystery; "Newsletter" is a humorous parody of the Christmas letters so many people send, and includes a possible invasion by aliens who are making people behave nicer than usual; and the last story, "Epiphany", is a wonderful story of three unlikely modern wise men-- a Presbyterian pastor, his atheist friend, and a former English teacher-- who are inspired to "go west", despite their own doubts and fears for their own sanity, in search of Christ, who has returned, but not in the way most would expect.

Willis also provides, as a "gift" to the reader, some recommendations-- twelve things to read, and twelve to watch. Some I'm familiar with, and some I will have to check out sometime soon. Her stories seem are gift enough, but I find it delightful that Willis wants to share with her readers some of her own favorites, and recognizes how wonderful it is to discover new authors, and how we frequently do that through the work of authors we already love.

Title:	Miracle and Other Christmas Stories
Author:	Connie Willis
Date published:	1999
Genre:	Short Story
Number of pages:	298
Notes:	Second reading.

Read more...

read full post >

A delightful collection of full-color, full-size Sunday comics from the hilarious and heart-warming comic strip, "Rose is Rose." Brady depicts the adventures of a loving family-- Rose, Jimbo, their son Pasquale, and their cat Peekaboo, too. This is a world where imagination comes to life-- at any moment, Rose may turn into her alter ego, or Rose and Jimbo may revert to their child selves; at night, Pasquale explores the universe in his dream ship, and he is always protected by his guardian angel, who sometimes appears in child guise, and sometimes in full warrior mode.

The artwork is wonderful, and the colors are vibrant. Some of my favorite strips in this collection are the ones that begin in black and white and show color returning to the world-- the contrast makes the vitality and warmth of the colors even more clear. I laughed out loud several times reading through these. It is also delightful to see Brady's depiction of a healthy, happy family who love one another and provide ample space for exploration and imagination.

Title:	Rose is Rose in Loving Color : A Collection of Sunday Rose is Rose Comics
Author:	Pat Brady
Date published:	1999
Genre:	Humor
Series:	Rose is Rose
Number of pages:	128

Read more...

read full post >

I've been enjoying Joss Whedon's X-Men so much, I thought I'd like to read some more comic books. When I was looking for something to read, this book caught my eye because of Neil Gaiman's name, and the concept of the book was intriguing enough to keep me looking at it. This book is a what-if, or alternate history: what if all the great Marvel heroes appeared in the 1600s instead of in our day and age? It's delightful to see these familiar characters drawn wearing period costume that is often uncannily similar to their modern outfits. It's also a fascinating idea-- these heroes have a difficult enough time in an age like our own; how would they fare in the world of the Inquisition, when those who were different were executed? It is a telling fact that the X-Men of this time are called "witchbreed."

Gaiman eventually does provide a reason for the appearance of these "marvels and heroes" before their time-- something or someone has punched through time and disrupted its flow, causing the heroes to show up now instead of centuries later. This both gives the story depth and provides a crisis that the heroes must deal with, lest this time singularity rip a hole in the cosmos and destroy the galaxy.

It is very entertaining to meet the different heroes and hear the variations of their origin stories-- for instance, the Fantastic Four were sailing on a ship to the new world and struck by some phenomenon in the Bermuda Triangle area. Gaiman also adds another interesting character, Virginia Dare-- the first person of European descent born in the Americas, at the colony of Roanoke. In some cases, to those like me who are not intimately familiar with all the many Marvel characters, it may not immediately be obvious who the different players are-- and it is entertaining to discover them later.

I found the story very engaging, and I liked the bigger revelations about certain characters. I was slightly disappointed with the ending, but that is in part because of what it may do to future stories (and I think there is a sequel coming, although it may not be written by Gaiman)-- it seems that the ending might make any further stories about these characters feel more trivial, less real; although, perhaps that is a silly concern on my part, since it is all an alternate history of fantastic, unreal characters to begin with.

Title:	Marvel 1602
Author:	Neil Gaiman, artwork by Andy Kubert
Date published:	2005
Genre:	Graphic Novel
Number of pages:	248

Read more...

read full post >

This book deals somewhat with Yancey's own wounding by the church, and most of the pages are dedicated to the people that Yancey believes helped him to survive, and even thrive, as a Christian. In each case, he provides biographical data, and his own interactions with these people-- whether he has met them (which he has, in many cases), or how their writing or work have affected him. It is a book that takes a while to read, because there is so much to digest and take in, but it is well worth the time.

The book is made up of 13 chapters, and each one focusses on a different person (or people, in the case of Tolstoy & Dostoevsky, who are paired together). Each person provides different kinds of lessons and encouragement.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. - the courage to make moral choices, despite being a flawed person
• G. K. Chesterton - the joyous, energetic outlook of the prolific journalist and author
• Dr. Paul Brand - a physician who studied pain and made great progress working with leprosy patients
• Dr. Robert Coles - an insightful psychologist who studied the poor and downtrodden, among others
• Leo Tolstoy and Feodor Dostoevsky - two Russian authors who understood the human psyche and could portray it so well, and who grasped different parts of the gospel; Tolstoy understood the call to perfection in spite of human flawedness, while Dostoevsky understood grace.
• Mahatma Ghandhi - one man who accomplished amazing things, often more than armies could do; while not a believer, Ghandhi adopted principles from the life of Jesus, and lived more like him than most believers did.
• Dr. C. Everett Koop - a Surgeon General who did his best at his job, remained upright in a corrupt political world, and alienated many because of the stands he took
• John Donne - the poet and pastor who dealt with death and faith honestly in the meditations he wrote when he thought he was dying
• Annie Dillard - the contemporary author who observes the things around her so carefully, and can see such horror and splendor in the world of nature.
• Frederick Buechner - the author who wrote sermons and theological works that read more like novels and memoirs
• Shusako Endo - the Japanese author who experienced alienation in so many ways, and instead of the martyrs and heroes of the faith, identified more with the Japanese Christians who renounced their faith in order to survive
• Henri Nouwen - the priest and professor who gave up worldly success in exchange for "downard mobility" and "inward mobility", choosing poverty and life in a community of the kind of people society does not value

Many of the people Yancey writes about are authors, so the topic of writing and what it means to be a writer comes up more than once, in interesting ways and with different insights. At the end of each chapter, Yancey also provides suggestions for books to read as a starting point to find out more about each of these amazing people.

Title:	Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church
Author:	Philip Yancey
Date published:	2001
Genre:	Spiritual Biography
Number of pages:	336
Notes:	Read over a couple of months.

Read more...

read full post >

This book was written by a woman who knows that life is not easy, and that pain and death are part of life. Somehow, God can be more present in those times than otherwise – and it is a way to know Him more deeply. Townsend talks about God's deep love extending over the entire world, and that because His does, our hearts too should be open to those around us, both near and unknown. If I desire to be more like Jesus, I must share in His suffering – and God suffers with all those who suffer. It is incomprehensible, but true at least on some levels. Townsend quotes C.S. Lewis, who says 'no event has so corroborated my faith in the next world as Williams did by dying. When the idea of death and the idea of Williams thus met in my mind, it was the idea of death that was changed.' She also addresses the idea that from the most broken and dark places comes the brightest light, giving an example of a poor Thai village that lived much in darkness yet produced beautiful tapestries and clothes worthy of royalty. 'Apathy is a luxury in which I dare not indulge' (p72).

Townsend also brings balance to this topic, talking about how love must come from the knowledge of being the Beloved – finding strength in His love to continue loving even though it takes energy. 'No matter what another man does to us we will never, under any circumstances, seek anything but his good' (p84) speaking about agape love. The last chapter is titled 'costly caring', and she addresses the issue of carrying one another's burdens, even in a literal sense sometimes. This is possible, uncomfortable, hard but sometimes a special gift that God gives. This is book which addresses the problem of pain in some day-to-day ways.

Title:	Suffering Without Pretending
Author:	Anne J. Townsend
Date published:	1979
Genre:	Christian Autobiography
Number of pages:	96
Notes:	Borrowed from Jude's office

Read more...

read full post >

Because this is such a popular book, I was on the waiting list in the library system for about month. And in this particular library system there were possibly 80 copies of the book.. Even though it's popular, is is worth reading. Gladwell writes well and comprehensibly, introducing scientific information and ideas in ways that are understandable for the average Joe Schmoe. Ideas are made tangible through many studies and stories. The basic idea is that humans often know things without being able to explain why.

Experts can train themselves so they have a better understanding of how to classify their knowledge and how to explain what they know and why. But those of us who aren't experts in a field, if given the opportunity to explain our reasons, would confuse everyone involved and probably change our opinions. One good way of understanding this is the human face – we can understand emotion without identifying it. For example, the face can't hide thoughts – if i am lying to you, there will be a hint of that shown on my face at one point, even if just for a second or less.

Another concept is thin-slicing -- being able to take a little piece of conversation or interaction and predict. John Gottman has studied couples for a long time and came up with 20 or so emotions and ways of interacting, like stonewalling, contempt, criticism... He has studied and become an expert at how negative and positive emotions look and sound, and now can listen to a couple for fifteen minutes or less at another dinner table and predict with high probability of being right whether they will stay together. If you know what to look for, it is present in all the interactions of a couple – or in the way doctors treat their patients, or in just a few questions to determine if someone is truly in danger of a heart attack.

Knowing when to trust one's instinct and when not to is also important – because if we have associations with certain types of people or certain environments, that will color our thinking too. This is a very interesting read – I would like to put into practice some of the tips and ways of thinking (or not thinking) about life.

Title:	Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking
Author:	Malcom Gladwell
Date published:	2005
Genre:	nonfiction, popular science
Number of pages:	254
Notes:	Very popular book, but worthwhile anyway..!

Read more...

read full post >

The first book I have ever read by McKillip. It will definitely not be my last. Would like to read this book again - slowly - to savor and catch more of the underlying meaning and ideas that are beautifully hidden. McKillip creates a fantasy world where magic is part of the weave of society and the environment. A princes (Sidonie) is sent to marry a prince (Ronan) in another kingdom (Serre), where odd things are known to happen almost commonly. Ronan interacts with Brume the witch, who sends him on a quest to find the firebird who is beautiful, gold, bird, woman, and so captivating that all those who hear its beautiful song lose their hearts.

McKillip uses common magic characters like witch, ogre, talking animals, things that appear one way but are another – but uses them to describe people as well, and not just those who are truly magic. For instance, one man is an ogre because of his spitefulness and anger, which is an interesting crossing of lines. Many people have some form of power or magic, and it is used well and poorly and to affect others for good or evil. Things only possible in a fantasy world happen beautifully and characters that seem disconnected suddenly find themselves needing and affecting each other. McKillip's work is both refreshing and captivating, like the song of the firebird.

Title:	In The Forests of Serre
Author:	Patricia McKillip
Date published:	2003
Genre:	Fantasy
Number of pages:	295
Notes:	Recommended by Lark

Read more...

read full post >

This is the first-written and most famous of the Narnia books. It's not my favorite of the Chronicles, in part because of its popularity; it bothers me a little bit that so many people have only read this book, and not any of the other Chronicles of Narnia (they are missing out on so much!). However, I have to admit that it is actually worth their time; they should at least read this one, even if they don't get around to the others. It is actually better, and deeper than I remembered.

I seemed to pay better attention to the details of the book this time through; perhaps that is because I knew I would be discussing it with others, and maybe also because I'm imagining the movie and wondering how they will handle certain things.

One detail I thought was odd was the narrator's insistence on the wisdom of not shutting a wardrobe door on oneself-- it's mentioned more than once, and seems to be one way of differentiating the common sense that both Lucy and Peter have, but which Edmund is notably lacking. Wardrobes are a bit less common these days, or at least in the States, so it seems like an odd concern, although I imagine there might not be a latch or door knob on the inside of one, so it would be easy to get stuck if you unwisely let the door latch when you are inside... It's a small point, but it struck me as rather odd.

I also paid more attention to the whole scene of Aslan's sacrifice for Edmund. I don't know if I've never really noticed it before (it seems so obvious that I must have, but I don't distinctly remember), but the parallels with Christ's death and resurrection are pretty detailed. For instance, Lucy & Susan are the only ones who sense Aslan's mood and follow him, and then walk with him as he goes back to the Stone Table, and then watch the whole scene from the safety of the woods-- just as the women were the ones who were actually present at the crucifixion, while the men were off hiding. (Why is that? Were male disciples considered more dangerous? Did the authorities not even consider the possibility that women would also be followers?) Likewise, the Witch's party jeers and taunts Aslan, calling him "puss" and such-- just as the Roman soldiers taunted Christ. One interesting difference here is that the dark creatures of Narnia are well aware of Aslan's strength and powers (although they underestimate the depth of those powers), and are afraid of him until they have thoroughly bound him. I think that in Christ's case, the soldiers, at least when they were taunting and manhandling him, did not believe he had any power over them. I also noticed Jadis calling Aslan a fool, and saying that once she has killed him, she will then kill Edmund and cement her rule over all of Narnia. This struck a chord with me, because so often the wisdom of God is foolishness to us; it is not logical, according to the rules we know-- because we are not acquainted with the "deeper magic from before the dawn of time".

Some of the descriptions are very colorful, and will be exciting to see on the big screen in the theater-- in particular the resurrection of Aslan, and then when Aslan breathes new life into all the creatures the White Witch has turned into statues. When Lucy & Susan are staring out at the sea and Cair Paravel, before they know Aslan has come back, in addition to the returning light and color, there is also one star still visible, above the horizon; I think it must be the daystar, which is a symbol of Christ, and of his return.

Title:	The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Author:	C. S. Lewis
Date published:	1950
Genre:	Fantasy / Young Adult
Series:	Chronicles of Narnia
Number of pages:	186
Notes:	Repeat reading. Read and discussed with community group.

Read more...

read full post >

An autobiography about the amazing things that God is doing in Mozambique. These two people decided to give their lives to God, and to let Him do whatever He wanted in them. It means that they eventually got to go to Africa – specifically Mozambique, which was/is in some desperate straits. They are charismatic / pentacostal – meaning that they believe the Spirit works and does amazing things. The Bakers started to befriend those who had nothing and nobody to love them - and God met them and came generously upon those who they were getting to know and ministering to and teaching. This is a story of God's faithfulness – that He will always provide enough. He promises to be enough – and people experiencing flooding, famine, and real hunger wanted Jesus more than food, because that is what they all needed and longed for at the deepest level.

Amazing stories – orphans being healed in every sense of the word, seeing visions of Bible stories and heaven without ever hearing them, a few pastors who have prayed and seen the dead live again, people walking and traveling for days to get to their conferences because they spoke the Word of God in power and the Spirit came too, more than 5000 churches in a few years... Things like this can only happen because of God. Astonishing and encouraging.

Title:	There's Always Enough: The Miraculous Move of God in Mozambique
Author:	Heidi and Rolland Baker
Date published:	2003
Genre:	Christian Autobiography
Number of pages:	188
Notes:	Borrowed from Julia

Read more...

read full post >

This book was written as part of the Dungeons & Dragons universe, and the story was apparently developed as a new role-playing module when it was written. The story feels a bit like a rip-off of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, with a strange group of different kinds of people going through various lands on a desperate quest. The group is led by a half-elf, Tanis, and includes a dwarf, a knight, a pair of twins--one a burly warrior and the other a sickly, but powerful and mysterious, mage-- and even a kleptomaniac kender, a halfling a bit like a hobbit-- but more playful and immune to fear. Along the way, the group picks up a barbarian pair, Romeo and Juliet type lovers from their tribe, with a mysterious blue crystal staff, and discover that the presumed-mythical dragons actually do exist, and that they are part of an army poised to overrun their land.

The story is fairly interesting, although not as tight as I would like-- there are a lot of threads left hanging at the end, and I hope at least some of them will be resolved in the books that follow in this trilogy (an unfortunate tendency of authors who can't seem to trust to the quality of their writing and characters to make readers want to find and read any sequels). The writing and descriptions tend to be a bit overblown, and sometimes don't quite make sense if you pay too much attention to the writing. In other places, things seem to be needlessly complicated -- for instance, the dragons all have two names, a human name and a dragon name. Their names are interesting, but the complication of having to remember and relate two different names seems unnecessary. The heroes quest doesn't seem to be very direct; it almost seems as if they are wandering all over the land of Krynn, first here, then there, back and forth, and that makes it harder to engage with the book. I suppose, though, that it would be more fitting for a role-playing game, because it would allow you to revisit the same lands and territories.

Some of the plot points seem to hinge on certain religious questions of these lands (the old gods are missing, the priests are 'Seekers' of new gods), and that-- among other things-- made it harder for me to engage with the story. The characters are all fairly interesting (and each, of course, has their own backstory and struggles)-- although they still seem a bit clichéd, perhaps because they are the character types you would play in a game. The book definitely picks up in the last third, when the action gets more dramatic and exciting, and while in some cases it is not quite believable, and in others it is a bit predictable, it still makes for a fun ride.

Title:	Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Author:	Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Date published:	1984
Genre:	Fantasy
Series:	Dragonlance Chronicles
Number of pages:	447
Notes:	Recommended by G.

Read more...

read full post >

I was challenged by this book. Barbara decides (with the help of a friend and editor) to see what it's like to make minimum wage and try to live on it. She ends up as a waitress in Florida, a house cleaner in Maine, and an associate at Walmart in Minnesota. These jobs all take physical energy, and most were at least 8 hours a day. She had a hard time finding cheap housing (and didn't always feel safe when she did), finding a reasonable place to work, and getting to know the ropes of that new job (because no job is really 'unskilled'.)

The author, undercover reporter of sorts, brings up issues like what it means to be poor – what sorts of demeaning situations minimum wage workers are often in – kinds of food which are cheap and accessible – what her neighbors were like – the stories of her coworkers who weren't going back to her comfortable life at the end of the month. The gap between the rich and poor continues to widen, and we as Americans aren't doing that much to stop it.

Ehrenreich doesn't really present solutions or ways we might address the issues – but does a good job presenting the problems as real situations for real people who may not survive long without being given rights and wages that actually cover a down payment on an apartment instead of just weekly motels. No room for God or grace in this book, but – it does a good job of accomplishing the original purpose and helping to open the eyes of those who read it.

Title:	Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Author:	Barbara Ehrenreich
Date published:	2001
Genre:	Nonfiction
Number of pages:	221
Notes:	Recommended by Amy P., and then John & Jude

Read more...

read full post >

This book definitely fits into the epic category. A novel which takes place over many years and covers the full life span of one individual and all the people he interacts with along the way – but that central individual is not really the center of the action. Adam trask has a twin, named Charles (C & A), and they are always fighting for their father's love. Adam has it and doesn't really want it, and Charles desperately wants it but doesn't really have it. Much later on, Adam has two twins – Caleb and Aron (C & A again), who repeat that same struggle. There are characters in the book which are all shades of good and evil. Some have all of one and can't imagine the other, while others are mixtures and can't figure out how to live well in either category.

This a a good story, and keeps one interested. Not only do you read about the lives of the characters, but also the lives of America before and during World War I. There are chapters interspersed where Steinbeck poetically describes the state of the nation or of California. I enjoyed this book, and also enjoy that Steinbeck can't seem to get away from Biblical references in his books (I've only read two, but that is very true of both.)

Title:	East of Eden
Author:	John Steinbeck
Date published:	1952
Genre:	Historical Fiction
Number of pages:	602
Notes:	Borrowed from Miriam

Read more...