BOOKS I CAMPED OUT ON
Impossible People: Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization by Os Guinness. Weighty. Urgent. Relevant. This book stretched my brain power to its outer reaches, and as soon as I finished it, I knew I needed to read it again to try to absorb all I missed the first time. Guinness writes about the things we don’t want to think about, the big ideas and transformations in our world that will change life as we know it. Like the fact that the decline of the Judeo-Christian faith as the soul of the West has opened the door for two positions vying for control over the world’s thought: aggressive secularism and radical Islam. The consequences are vast. It’s much easier to keep our minds busy with daily schedules and a good fiction book, but sometimes we need to think bigger. This book is not to be missed—even if it is overwhelming.
American
Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers by Nancy Jo Sales.
I blogged in detail about this book over the summer, and I’m still haunted by it. If you like
to be informed about the state of our culture, and especially if you have
children, I recommend you read at least the introduction.
And also sounding the alarm on technology …
Nicholas Carr’s new book Utopia Is Creepy: And Other Provocations.
There’s actually nothing new here; rather, this book is a collection of essays,
blog posts, and book reviews since 2005. Carr had me at The Shallows, and I appreciate him as a writer, researcher, and
social commentator. He shares my concern (abject terror?) over where technology
is taking us and the effects it’s having on us, but he actually knows what he’s
talking about. The last entry in this book, on biotechnology, sent chills down my spine. And here's a sample of Carr’s comments about Twitter: “What used to happen in
the privacy of the mind is now tossed into the public’s bowl like so many Fritos.
The broadcasting of the spectacle of self has become a full-time job.” Twitter
is the medium of Narcissus, and Narcissism is the “user interface for
Nihilism,” says Carr, allowing us to both “indulge our self-absorption and to
distance ourselves from it by acknowledging, with a coy digital wink, its
essential emptiness. I love me! Just kidding!” And it all masquerades as
community. God, help us.
BOOKS BY SOME OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS
The Pastor: A Memoir by Eugene Peterson. This book is aimed at two audiences: those who are (or want to be) pastors and those who savor Eugene Peterson like fine wine. I fall into the latter category. Having made my way through nearly all of C.S. Lewis’s works, I am now compelled to read at least one Eugene Peterson and one Tim Keller book each year.
Speaking of Keller, I read his book Counterfeit Gods this year. It was
shorter than I expected, but contained a few gems, such as his discussion of
four types of deep idols: power idolatry, approval idolatry, control idolatry,
comfort idolatry. We can all recognize one of those in ourselves.
If
You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty. Eric Metaxas is on his way to becoming one of my
favorites. This book takes its name from a quote attributed to Benjamin
Franklin. As the designers of the U.S. constitution walked out of their meeting
in September 1787, a woman approached Franklin, then 81, and asked if the young
country was really going to be a democracy. Franklin answered, “Yes, if you
can keep it.” Metaxas uses this as his thesis: that liberty requires work. If
we want to live in a free, democratic country, we all have to play a part in
maintaining it. My crazy enthusiasm for the book waned as it became less about
that principle and more about individual biographies, but it will still be
required reading for the teenagers in my house.
I thought Brene Brown might become one of my new favorite authors, but
after reading The Gift of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be
and Embrace You Are in January, I can’t remember a thing about it.
Although I think back on it positively, I’ll need to read another of her books
to determine if I’m a fan like other people are.
BOOKS THAT EXPANDED MY PERSPECTIVE
First, A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold. Couldn’t put this one down. Between the title and the author’s name, you can figure out what this book is about. Columbine hit me hard, both because it happened an hour from my house and because I was pregnant with my first child at the time. Throughout the years, the overriding thought in my head has been, “What was going on with those parents? How did they not know? How must this have affected them, and how do they live with the horror of it for the rest of their lives?” Sue Klebold answered all of my questions, and by the end of the book, she seemed more like a friend than an anomaly. I wanted to write to her, to tell her that despite all her efforts to redeem her tragedy—to make suicide-prevention her life’s mission, to give of herself ceaselessly to others—Jesus is the only answer to real, lasting peace. I may write to her yet.
Between
the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. How can two people see the same
thing—the shooting of a black man by a while police officer, for example—and
have two vastly different perspectives of what happened? That question prompted
me to read this widely acclaimed book. Coates is as different from me as he can
be. He’s a black man who grew up in inner-city Baltimore. He has no belief in
God. He has experienced things I can barely imagine: His son being angrily
pushed by a white woman in a crowd, routinely being pulled over by cops for no
reason other than his skin color. What surprised me most is that this man is
terrified every day, for himself and for his teenage son. Because they’re
black. I was also caught off guard by the words he used for people like me: “people
who need to believe they’re white” or “people who think they’re white.” Hmmm. The
book felt overwritten and too poetic for my taste (he is, indeed, a poet), and
there were times when I had no idea what he was talking about. But I got the
gist of it, and it was eye-opening. A different perspective is good for me.
BIBLE COMMENTARY
I read a lot of commentaries for my work and my girls’ Bible studies, but
will only recommend one here for casual reading. It’s Michael Card’s Luke:
The Gospel of Amazement. Card has written about all of the gospels. If
you’re looking for brief, easy-to-understand commentaries, his are a good
choice.
ENJOYABLE FICTION
Where’d
You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple. This is a quick read with a quirky
plot and clever writing. I breezed through it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
FICTION I HATED
Forgiveness 4 You by Ann Bauer. The only reason I’m admitting I
read it is so that you will avoid it. The premise, marketing and selling
forgiveness to those who don’t have time or interest in church, was provocative
enough to persevere through it, but in the end, it was sacrilegious drivel and
a complete waste of time.
BOOKS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2017
You Are What You Love; Hillbilly Elegy; Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus;
The Beckoning; Just Do Something. Please send me your own recommendations, and keep reading!
