a few more years shall roll

This summer, I read more books than I have in ages. This is a very good thing. My brain feels re-energized and I have more questions than when I started. If you look at the list, you’ll see that I would start one book and then get ideas for two or three related titles and grab them too.

Hipster Christianity –this came just in time for me to take on my trip, and I was so glad! A great read. Way more serious than I expected, from reading the hipsterchristianity.com site. This was one of the more helpful books that I have read to help me understand the students I work with (and critique my own tendencies a bit, too!). Biblically-grounded, friendly critique of a growing movement in the predominantly white middle-class American church. A call to confidence in the eternal truths of Christianity and true community.
Reboot: Refreshing your faith in a high-tech world This one probably would have had more impact if I hadn’t waited to read it til I was in an isolated cabin in Vermont away from my computer and tv and civilization in general. But, some good reminders of the need to live life with some margin.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson All about Architects and the World’s Fair and a Serial Killer and Chicago history. Larson makes history come alive! And, having finally gotten to spend a little time in Chicago recently, I appreciated it even more.

ok, then the books on religion and race. Oh boy, this was a can of worms. As soon as I read one, I found two more, then another. And there are still a few more to be read.

In April, I checked out Anti-Blackness in the English Religion by Joseph Washington, who it turns out was the new chaplain at Dickinson College when my dad was there in the 60s and was (still is, emeritus) a prof at Penn while I was there. That’s probably the only academic connection my dad and I have. An eye-opening 600-page read. To say the least. A whole new perspective on some of my Christian “heroes.” Get it from your local college library–it’s too expensive to buy from Amazon. I also skimmed through his Black Religion, which he wrote while at Dickinson back in the late 60s. You can be like me and keep renewing it until you finish it because it’s so long, so you actually have it out of the library for three months. I’m pretty sure librarians love that.

Open Friendship in a Closed Society. Peter Slade. This one has started a bit of a firestorm in the PCA. rightly so. thanks to Anthony Bradley for bringing his work to light in the PCA realm. Dr. Slade is coming to our campus in January to talk through some of his research and work. I hope it provides some opportunity for serious engagement with our college’s denominational history. He references Joel Alvis’ Religion and Race: Southern Presbyterians 1946-83, which I had already picked up and read right after going to the PCA’s General Assembly. I also read through How Is the Gold Become Dim by Morton Smith, referenced in both these books. Whoa. I can’t really recommend that one, but probably you should read it if you’re reading the others.

Also, while at GA, I heard from Dr. Alicia Jackson, who did a wonderful presentation on the CME–history and challenges of that denomination over the past century or more, about Blood Done Sign My Name, by Tim Tyson. This one, I picked up because of the recommendation, but it turns out I taught high school in one of the towns mentioned in the book. That made the book come to life for me in a new way. It’s a hard book to read, content-wise. But so are a lot of these. I’m wrecked after reading them.

I found Welcoming Justice by John Perkins and Charles Marsh helpful as well.

I’ve finally finished Jerram Barrs Through His Eyes: God’s perspective on women in the Bible. It might be the best book i’ve read digging into the stories and culture of the Bible. It’s NOT a book about putting women in their place, or reemphasizing the Biblical role of women. Instead, he carefully looks at each woman, their story, their struggles, and it’s written for both men and women to learn from. Thank you Dr. Barrs. I picked this up after hearing him speak at a PCA women’s leadership conference, where his talks were, by far, the best thing happening that weekend. His chapters on Tamar (Absalom’s sister, not Perez’s mom) provide great counsel for thinking through the issues of evil and sin and their effects on us.

And, early in the summer finally got and read Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity by Lauren Winner. This is a good thing, because a lovely, well-meaning woman from my church keeps unloading books on Christian singleness and marriage on me and I just don’t want to read them. This book helped me understand why. Her chapter on being single as “living with a vacancy for God” was incredibly helpful.

Oh yeah, and re-reads of Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands (Tripp) and The Next Evangelicalism (Rah).

there. i did it. blog post. it’s too long. i know.

it’s been a long time since i read a good biography. i ate them up when i was a kid. seriously, i read a biography of mary, queen of scots from my school library at least ten times. one of my favorites was abigail adams. the more i read about her, the more i wanted to know her.

throughout high school and college, biographies didn’t really make the reading list for classes, but as an english major, history minor, i was always interested in the lives of authors and poets as i was reading their work. hence my concentration in “american literature and society,” i suppose. since college, most biographies i’ve read have been of church fathers, reformers, preachers, missionaries (i strongly recommend the story of Ann Judson’s life My Heart in His Hands).

At the library last week, while I was picking up some videos (This is Spinal Tap (my first ever viewing!), X-men, and Clueless), I grabbed a copy of John Adams by David McCullough. I’m trying to read it slowly, usually on my bus rides to and from work. McCullough writes really well, using lots of personal correspondence between John and Abigail, which is fascinating. Their love and respect for each other is a true model. I haven’t even gotten to the Declariation of Independence yet, but I’m really enjoying this in-depth portrait of the man and his times.

shoot–i did the no caps to caps switch again, didn’t i?

i’m late in the harry potter game. i admit it. i avoided the books on purpose because of all the hype. i watched the first two movies on dvd with slight interest.

but i went home to visit my family over memorial day and found that my little brother had brought the first four books with him. i picked up the first one and devoured it and then the second before i headed back here on memorial day. last week, i checked the next two out of the library and within three days i’d finished those as well. and, i just re-read the ending of azkaban over my lunch break to remind myself how good it was. i love these books. i would have eaten them up as a teen. (not that it was hard to get me to read back then either).

i went to see the movie on saturday and really enjoyed it. i’ve seen the director’s work in A Little Princess (which is just a beautiful film, by the way). i would have loved a little more quidditch (especially the match where harry casts the patronus on draco malfoy) and a little more back story on the four animagi and their friendship. but, for an adaptation, i thought he did an admirable job–far better than the first two. alan rickman is my favorite. his perfect sneer makes him so deliciously fun to watch (and despise).

anyway, i’m hoping that i can get to the public library before it closes tonight so i can check out the fifth book to read while i’m in boston for the next few days.