March and April books
May. 2nd, 2018 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katharhino posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
christianreaderThis collection is about as eclectic as usual! I have to laugh at my own selections at the end of each month. Part of me feels slightly embarrassed at my growing tendency to read extremely heavy non-fiction and extremely light fiction. But hey, we all read what we want.
I got to my March books late and forgot to cross post so here is the whole list.
Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach between the Conservative Church and the LGBT Christian Community, Kathy Baldock - Elise and I have been talking a lot about the church and advocating for LGBT inclusion, and I borrowed this book from her. It was fascinating and takes an unusual historical approach. I was already about 98.3% to becoming fully affirming, which has been a long process for me. But this book eliminated the last 1.7% of doubt. Besides, it's a very thorough investigation of the history of the way we see sexuality and the way the church has interacted with historical and political trends. I find the way American Christianity incorporates American political history to be mostly underestimated and understanding that relationship better is very revealing. Even aside from LGBT advocacy, it's thought provoking to see the way that interpretive assumptions get incorporated as unquestioned fact in Evangelicalism. I do think there were a few gaps or biased sections in the book, and it also gets a little repetitive toward the end. But for the most part, very well researched and presented. [5/5 stars]
The Austen Escape, Katherine Reay - I almost didn't buy this book. Although I've been a big fan of Reay, the last of her novels I read was disappointing. A return to what I loved the most about Katherine Reay's writing, this was a lot more satisfying. Although it follows the same general plot format (woman finds herself in career and personal crisis, takes a spontaneous trip, and finds answers), it was managed with a lot more believability, and framed by a friendship with a great deal of complexity. Protagonist Mary reluctantly agrees to do a Jane Austen-themed vacation with her childhood friend Isabella, who can be overbearing and judgmental. Mary struggles to reclaim who she is and understand her relationships, framed by taking on different Austen roles. Reay is fantastic where she allows uneasy relationships to reveal her characters' shortcomings, and the character growth to come through confusion and mistakes.
My one complaint is that "person overhears a conversation and overreacts without communicating with anyone" is one of my least favorite tropes ever, and it shows up toward the end of this book. At least the character involved ends up acknowledging how silly the reaction was? [4/5]
Emily of Deep Valley, Maud Hart Lovelace - Some friends of mine read this earlier this year as a group read. I didn't participate because I was busy, but it sounded delightful. I didn't grow up reading Maud Hard Lovelace, but after I started reading the Betsy-Tacy books out loud to my girls, I decided to check out this novel for myself. It was a charming coming-of-age novel about Emily, who graduates from high school in 1912, and feels lonely and depressed when all her friends go away to college, leaving her behind to care for her aging grandfather. She eventually rescues herself by determining to keep learning, starting to pay attention to the people around her and their needs, and using her gifts to make a difference in her community. There are a lot of fun historical details about life and fashion in the 19-teens, and the ending is very sweet and wraps up all the loose ends in a very innocent way. But under the surface there are also some serious themes and the way Emily deals with them is actually quite inspiring and relevant. Now wishing I'd read MHL when I was younger myself. [5/5]
Falling Upward, Richard Rohr - I've been reading some daily meditations by Richard Rohr for some time now. He is a Franciscan priest, author, and mystic. I decided to read this book for Lent. It's not without flaws: I felt the book was a little unorganized. There were sections that rang with the piercing sound of truth. There were also sections that seemed a little vague and didn't connect with me at all. I appreciate Rohr's holistic/mystical approach to spirituality, as that is the direction I seem to be traveling these days. "Falling upward" in the title relates to the idea that to deepen spirituality sometimes we have to go through a crisis or dark night of some kind, which results in emerging out the other side into a more serene acceptance that you can't avoid failures, mistakes, and sadness by somehow being a perfect Christian and following all the "rules." That resonates with me right now. But sometimes his acceptance seems to gloss over the suffering a little too much? I also felt very uneasy with the way Rohr categorizes depression as resulting from a failure to engage with all the parts of life. Sometimes it's not that way. Despite these criticisms, the parts of the book that were good were brilliant enough to still earn a very high rating from me. [4.5/5]
Can You Keep a Secret, Sophie Kinsella - Needing to balance out all this seriousness with some fluff, I got this one from our library's Overdrive. It was a little disappointing. Although not as maddening as the previous Kinsella I read (Wedding Night) it still missed the mark. The setup is that the protagonist, who is scared of flying, pours out all her deepest secrets to a stranger on a turbulent flight when she thinks she's about to die. The plane lands safely and uh-oh, her seatmate turns out to be the big boss at her job, where she is struggling to find her place. From here things proceed fairly predictably. The problems I have are first, that Kinsella brings up some real issues with the main character's tendency to lie about everything to make herself feel better and please others. But then she fails to investigate that too much or provide any convincing character development, in part because she inserts some conflict toward the end of the book that seems completely out of character. It provides a nice plot bookend for the airplane scene at the beginning, but it creates deeper problems that then get handwaved. And finally, the central romance has so many power imbalances while at the same time seeming to be based on nothing more than superficial attraction, I got very uneasy with it. [2/5]
One and Only, Viv Daniels - More fluff. This is a college romance written by Diana Peterfreund, whose work I have deeply enjoyed in the past. Tess falls for her lab partner at a post-high school summer science program. Then she encounters him again two years later when she transfers colleges. Insert romance and some sexy scenes. The twist here is that Tess's mom is the longtime mistress of a high power local businessman, and Tess is supposed to keep her entire existence a secret. So that brings up some interesting themes as Tess tries to navigate relationships without making her mom's mistakes, and deals with her daddy issues. Peterfreund/Daniels is a really good, snappy writer of romance, especially dialogue, and I did enjoy the book. The borderline cheating was a little too uneasily borderline for me, however, and a lot of the main characters' real friendship was told rather than shown. I guess I like my slow-burn romances to be a little slower and less burny? [3/5]
God and the Gay Christian, Matthew Vines - This book is presented like a legal argument. It does frame the central question in the author's personal story, but he provides few details. Most of the book is a well-organized and thorough investigation of reasons to support gay marriage, and deconstruction of the arguments against, using Scripture and Christian tradition. I've already read most of the arguments in other books, but this one is more thorough. At this point in my life, I no longer hold to quite as high or literal a view of Scripture as this author, either. And I tend to value the impact of personal story, so I found Justin Lee's Torn more deeply touching. However, although I didn't need this book to be convinced, others might and it is very well written and much needed. [4/5 stars]
Tears We Cannot Stop, Michael Eric Dyson - A passionate diatribe about black experience of racism in the US, framed as a prophetic and polemic sermon in the tradition of African-American spirituality. I found this short book both important for its power and suggestions of hope, and also frustrating because it made assumptions about the reader that I think did not help its overall case, should someone who really has doubts about the Black Lives Matter movement happen to pick it up. But I don't want that comment to be taken as saying that black people don't have a right to speak as strongly as they need to about the situation. Perhaps I really just wanted the author to let go of the somewhat contrived church service structure and let his words just flow without that device. [4/5]
Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella -moredetails recommended this novel when we were discussing Kinsella's sometimes shortcomings as an author. I'm glad she did because I enjoyed it quite a bit. The plot follows a young woman who is haunted by the ghost of her great aunt and has to solve a mystery about the aunt's life, while at the same time figuring out how to stand up for herself and pursue her own goals rather than letting other people walk over her. Total lack of believability, of course, but the main character reacted in consistent ways and I loved the bond she ended up having with the ghost. Very cute and likeable romance as well. [3/5]
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea, Masaji Ishikawa - I had downloaded this memoir some time ago and it turned out to be a timely read now, since NK is in the news quite a bit. Other than a general sense that NK is not a fun place to live, as we all know it's a human rights offender, I knew very little about the history of the nation or how much its communism affects the citizens. This book was eye-opening and fairly horrifying. The author, who is half Japanese, moved to North Korea with his family as a young teenager so he had a strong sense that his experiences there were not normal. He then lived through a terrible famine in the 90s when people in North Korea were starving to death if they didn't happen to enjoy enough favor with the Party to get supplies. It ends with not much hope, but I think it's important just to tell people what North Korea and similar regimes can be like. [5/5]
Till We Have Faces, C. S. Lewis - I was rereading this for Lent, and obviously I didn't finish it by Easter, but it was actually helpful to be reading the later sections of the book in the light of resurrection as well. It's been years since I read it, and I think I got more from it this time having been through a lot of doubt and frustration with God myself. But even so, I ended it as I always have in the past, with the sense that there are more layers of depth to Lewis's symbolism I'm still missing. I actually love that it's dense and allusive. At the same time, contrarily, I wish he'd given just a little more to it. I want to discuss and question with him through the book and it's only what it is, a myth retelling. [5/5]
I got to my March books late and forgot to cross post so here is the whole list.
Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach between the Conservative Church and the LGBT Christian Community, Kathy Baldock - Elise and I have been talking a lot about the church and advocating for LGBT inclusion, and I borrowed this book from her. It was fascinating and takes an unusual historical approach. I was already about 98.3% to becoming fully affirming, which has been a long process for me. But this book eliminated the last 1.7% of doubt. Besides, it's a very thorough investigation of the history of the way we see sexuality and the way the church has interacted with historical and political trends. I find the way American Christianity incorporates American political history to be mostly underestimated and understanding that relationship better is very revealing. Even aside from LGBT advocacy, it's thought provoking to see the way that interpretive assumptions get incorporated as unquestioned fact in Evangelicalism. I do think there were a few gaps or biased sections in the book, and it also gets a little repetitive toward the end. But for the most part, very well researched and presented. [5/5 stars]
The Austen Escape, Katherine Reay - I almost didn't buy this book. Although I've been a big fan of Reay, the last of her novels I read was disappointing. A return to what I loved the most about Katherine Reay's writing, this was a lot more satisfying. Although it follows the same general plot format (woman finds herself in career and personal crisis, takes a spontaneous trip, and finds answers), it was managed with a lot more believability, and framed by a friendship with a great deal of complexity. Protagonist Mary reluctantly agrees to do a Jane Austen-themed vacation with her childhood friend Isabella, who can be overbearing and judgmental. Mary struggles to reclaim who she is and understand her relationships, framed by taking on different Austen roles. Reay is fantastic where she allows uneasy relationships to reveal her characters' shortcomings, and the character growth to come through confusion and mistakes.
My one complaint is that "person overhears a conversation and overreacts without communicating with anyone" is one of my least favorite tropes ever, and it shows up toward the end of this book. At least the character involved ends up acknowledging how silly the reaction was? [4/5]
Emily of Deep Valley, Maud Hart Lovelace - Some friends of mine read this earlier this year as a group read. I didn't participate because I was busy, but it sounded delightful. I didn't grow up reading Maud Hard Lovelace, but after I started reading the Betsy-Tacy books out loud to my girls, I decided to check out this novel for myself. It was a charming coming-of-age novel about Emily, who graduates from high school in 1912, and feels lonely and depressed when all her friends go away to college, leaving her behind to care for her aging grandfather. She eventually rescues herself by determining to keep learning, starting to pay attention to the people around her and their needs, and using her gifts to make a difference in her community. There are a lot of fun historical details about life and fashion in the 19-teens, and the ending is very sweet and wraps up all the loose ends in a very innocent way. But under the surface there are also some serious themes and the way Emily deals with them is actually quite inspiring and relevant. Now wishing I'd read MHL when I was younger myself. [5/5]
Falling Upward, Richard Rohr - I've been reading some daily meditations by Richard Rohr for some time now. He is a Franciscan priest, author, and mystic. I decided to read this book for Lent. It's not without flaws: I felt the book was a little unorganized. There were sections that rang with the piercing sound of truth. There were also sections that seemed a little vague and didn't connect with me at all. I appreciate Rohr's holistic/mystical approach to spirituality, as that is the direction I seem to be traveling these days. "Falling upward" in the title relates to the idea that to deepen spirituality sometimes we have to go through a crisis or dark night of some kind, which results in emerging out the other side into a more serene acceptance that you can't avoid failures, mistakes, and sadness by somehow being a perfect Christian and following all the "rules." That resonates with me right now. But sometimes his acceptance seems to gloss over the suffering a little too much? I also felt very uneasy with the way Rohr categorizes depression as resulting from a failure to engage with all the parts of life. Sometimes it's not that way. Despite these criticisms, the parts of the book that were good were brilliant enough to still earn a very high rating from me. [4.5/5]
Can You Keep a Secret, Sophie Kinsella - Needing to balance out all this seriousness with some fluff, I got this one from our library's Overdrive. It was a little disappointing. Although not as maddening as the previous Kinsella I read (Wedding Night) it still missed the mark. The setup is that the protagonist, who is scared of flying, pours out all her deepest secrets to a stranger on a turbulent flight when she thinks she's about to die. The plane lands safely and uh-oh, her seatmate turns out to be the big boss at her job, where she is struggling to find her place. From here things proceed fairly predictably. The problems I have are first, that Kinsella brings up some real issues with the main character's tendency to lie about everything to make herself feel better and please others. But then she fails to investigate that too much or provide any convincing character development, in part because she inserts some conflict toward the end of the book that seems completely out of character. It provides a nice plot bookend for the airplane scene at the beginning, but it creates deeper problems that then get handwaved. And finally, the central romance has so many power imbalances while at the same time seeming to be based on nothing more than superficial attraction, I got very uneasy with it. [2/5]
One and Only, Viv Daniels - More fluff. This is a college romance written by Diana Peterfreund, whose work I have deeply enjoyed in the past. Tess falls for her lab partner at a post-high school summer science program. Then she encounters him again two years later when she transfers colleges. Insert romance and some sexy scenes. The twist here is that Tess's mom is the longtime mistress of a high power local businessman, and Tess is supposed to keep her entire existence a secret. So that brings up some interesting themes as Tess tries to navigate relationships without making her mom's mistakes, and deals with her daddy issues. Peterfreund/Daniels is a really good, snappy writer of romance, especially dialogue, and I did enjoy the book. The borderline cheating was a little too uneasily borderline for me, however, and a lot of the main characters' real friendship was told rather than shown. I guess I like my slow-burn romances to be a little slower and less burny? [3/5]
God and the Gay Christian, Matthew Vines - This book is presented like a legal argument. It does frame the central question in the author's personal story, but he provides few details. Most of the book is a well-organized and thorough investigation of reasons to support gay marriage, and deconstruction of the arguments against, using Scripture and Christian tradition. I've already read most of the arguments in other books, but this one is more thorough. At this point in my life, I no longer hold to quite as high or literal a view of Scripture as this author, either. And I tend to value the impact of personal story, so I found Justin Lee's Torn more deeply touching. However, although I didn't need this book to be convinced, others might and it is very well written and much needed. [4/5 stars]
Tears We Cannot Stop, Michael Eric Dyson - A passionate diatribe about black experience of racism in the US, framed as a prophetic and polemic sermon in the tradition of African-American spirituality. I found this short book both important for its power and suggestions of hope, and also frustrating because it made assumptions about the reader that I think did not help its overall case, should someone who really has doubts about the Black Lives Matter movement happen to pick it up. But I don't want that comment to be taken as saying that black people don't have a right to speak as strongly as they need to about the situation. Perhaps I really just wanted the author to let go of the somewhat contrived church service structure and let his words just flow without that device. [4/5]
Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella -
moredetails recommended this novel when we were discussing Kinsella's sometimes shortcomings as an author. I'm glad she did because I enjoyed it quite a bit. The plot follows a young woman who is haunted by the ghost of her great aunt and has to solve a mystery about the aunt's life, while at the same time figuring out how to stand up for herself and pursue her own goals rather than letting other people walk over her. Total lack of believability, of course, but the main character reacted in consistent ways and I loved the bond she ended up having with the ghost. Very cute and likeable romance as well. [3/5]A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea, Masaji Ishikawa - I had downloaded this memoir some time ago and it turned out to be a timely read now, since NK is in the news quite a bit. Other than a general sense that NK is not a fun place to live, as we all know it's a human rights offender, I knew very little about the history of the nation or how much its communism affects the citizens. This book was eye-opening and fairly horrifying. The author, who is half Japanese, moved to North Korea with his family as a young teenager so he had a strong sense that his experiences there were not normal. He then lived through a terrible famine in the 90s when people in North Korea were starving to death if they didn't happen to enjoy enough favor with the Party to get supplies. It ends with not much hope, but I think it's important just to tell people what North Korea and similar regimes can be like. [5/5]
Till We Have Faces, C. S. Lewis - I was rereading this for Lent, and obviously I didn't finish it by Easter, but it was actually helpful to be reading the later sections of the book in the light of resurrection as well. It's been years since I read it, and I think I got more from it this time having been through a lot of doubt and frustration with God myself. But even so, I ended it as I always have in the past, with the sense that there are more layers of depth to Lewis's symbolism I'm still missing. I actually love that it's dense and allusive. At the same time, contrarily, I wish he'd given just a little more to it. I want to discuss and question with him through the book and it's only what it is, a myth retelling. [5/5]
