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Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity by David W. Swanson My rating: 5 of 5 stars The more I read about the white American church's complicity with racism, the more I recognize my own complicity with racism. The more I read about whiteness and white privilege, the more I recognize the many ways I benefit from my whiteness--and the more I recognize the cost of this privilege. And it's hard to write these things. It's uncomfortable. And I need to make peace with discomfort and seek justice, whatever the cost. Last February, I attended the Cultivate conference and participated in a breakout session focused on how to talk about race. Leroy Barber, the facilitator, asserted that the problem in the white church was a lack of discipleship, training, understanding what the Bible says, understanding history, understanding justice. And that word discipleship resonated with me. How do we begin to see the world beyond...

The Girl from Vichy by Andie Newton My rating: 3 of 5 stars I've read a lot of novels about espionage during World War 2 and the role of female agents, and this was one of them. I liked the storyline, and I appreciate Newton's moves to illustrate complexity of human beings as they try to navigate difficult times. Why do people support their leaders despite the evidence that the leader is taking the people down a dangerous path? Why do some people collaborate with enemies? Why do some people risk everything to change the course of history? How does war change us? Unfortunately, this story and the simplistic character and plot development never quite achieve what I believe Newton wanted to achieve. For example, the protagonist's recruitment into the resistance was based on the fact that she wasn't a spy for the opposite side and because she fled marriage to a collaborator. She was actually a bit flighty. The resistance members shared na...

The Last of the Stanfields by Marc Levy My rating: 5 of 5 stars Her name is Eleanor Rigby, and she is from England. Her mother passed away suddenly. His name is George Harrison, and he is from Canada. His mother is suffering from early-onset dementia. They have never met, but they are drawn together and pulled to Baltimore by anonymous letters claiming that their mothers committed unspeakable crimes, which seems unfathomable to mid-20-something young people who could not be more different. Although each is suspicious of the other, they ultimately work together to uncover the mystery. Once again, Marc Levy draws rich, complex characters that make me smile and make me want to read more. We know them through their words, their responses, their interactions, and not just from surface descriptive details. We root for them and their mothers. We learn that no one is all good or all bad, that our actions have consequences, but those consequences don't ha...

The Art of Advent: A Painting a Day from Advent to Epiphany by Jane Williams My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read a few Advent books every Christmas season to keep my mind focused on the meaning of Christmas beyond gifts, decorations, and family togetherness. I wasn't raised in a spiritual tradition that observed the church calendar, but I am drawn to it as it allows me to see myself in a larger story than my own. Every day a painting depicting some part of the advent tradition; most are classical paintings, but some are more modern. Every day a devotional that examines and analyzes the painting. Every day questions for self-examination. Every day a prayer. Every day personal challenges to "reflect unhurriedly on what God's might acts in Holy Scripture" and what these mean in practical terms. This started on December 1 and ended today, Epiphany. I appreciate the extended Christmas season that allows reflection on the work of Christ and no...

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow My rating: 5 of 5 stars Portals into other worlds? Yes, please. (It's been a long time since the parallel universes of Fringe and even longer since I stepped foot into Narnia.) Harrow's depiction of January, a peculiar and intriguing young woman who knows words like "temerarious" when she is seven, who has a peculiar living situation and a peculiar origins story, engaged me from the first chapter. January's words, written on a page, have power, and even if she doesn't see it right away, I did, and I was hooked. Where was this going? What would happen? It takes her almost the entire book, but she finally realizes, "Words and their meanings have weight in the world of matter, shaping and reshaping realities through a most ancient alchemy." Harrow employs visual, olfactory, and aural descriptions to draw pictures of characters, settings, and action, and these made me...

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz My rating: 5 of 5 stars Since reading Magpie Murders back in 2018, I have made it a point to read all new Anthony Horowitz books. His characters and his sense of humor make me smile; his plots have me asking questions from beginning to end. But back to Moonflower Murders. It is a true sequel to Magpie Murders, and so Susan Ryeland is back, trying to figure out the secrets embedded in mystery writer's Alan Conway's detective Atticus Pund. I enjoyed this from the first page. Like last time, Horowitz embeds an Alan Conway novel in the book, and like last time I was annoyed to switch characters, and like last time, I ended up enjoying the parallel novels and the way the Atticus Pund novel informs the larger story. Horowitz has a self-deprecating sense of humor, such as when he writes about writers. He says, “It’s such a strange profession, really, living in a sort of twilight between the world they belong to...

My Grape Christmas by Laura Bradbury My rating: 2 of 5 stars I chose this book because it was about Christmas and about France, and I love both of these. Plus it was Christmas-time! There was no plot beyond "college Canadian living with her French boyfriend goes to visit his family in France for Christmas." She experiences cultural differences, insecurity, and jealousy. There is a happy ending, and this is not a spoiler since the happy ending was never in doubt. The typos were annoying. I do think some people would enjoy this book. The descriptions of French culture and the contrasts between Canadian culture were interesting. View all my reviews

Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren My rating: 5 of 5 stars As long as I can remember, I have pushed my limits, always believing I should, I must, do more. Projects become more than they needed to become as I elaborate. This is both a positive and a negative trait as I keep asking myself, how can I be better? How can I do this better? What can I add? I do this professionally, and I do this personally. And so when the pandemic hit last spring, I was already at capacity, without margins for emotional trauma or additional work. After a few weeks of distracted mental spinning, transitioning my classes and the writing center to online formats for students who were also struggling with distraction, I finally found my bearings, only to spin again with the death of Ahmaud Arbery and Floyd Jones. I needed to deal with my own race issues. Bottom line. Summer was spent reading about race and learning new online tea...

A Woman Like Her by Marc Levy My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is the fourth Marc Levy book I have read, and I chose it because he wrote it. (Also many of his books are on Kindle Unlimited, which I am trying out for free for three months, so there is that.) His characters are always quirky, influenced by unknown factors, looking for something more from life. Chloe and Sanji come from very different backgrounds but both are tired of being judged on outward appearances. Both want to be seen, valued, for who they are. Chloe is a young white woman in a wheelchair. People stare at her, ignore her, speak down to her. Sanji is Indian, a wealthy businessman traveling to the United States, frequently mistaken for a servant because of his accent and his skin color. Stereotypes abound, and the two fight back. I enjoyed the love story--I don't think that's a spoiler given that I saw it coming in the first couple of chapters--but I also enjoyed all Levy's...

Five French Hens by Judy Leigh My rating: 4 of 5 stars When we are young, we can't imagine ourselves as old. We can't imagine age spots, wrinkles, gray hair, weight gain, creaking muscles. And the same is true when we do start seeing these things. It takes a long time to feel old internally. (My mom is 85, and she tells me most days she has a hard time remembering that she is old.) And yet many older women are often marginalized, overlooked, even dismissed. Why ramble on and on about age and perception? Because Judy Leigh's Five French Hens celebrates older women, affirms them whether they are thin, thick, married, widowed, or never married. They laugh, mourn, dream of the future, and try new things. They are all in their 70s, but they are not done living. I almost put this book down but I'm glad I didn't. View all my reviews

Everywhere You Look: Discovering the Church Right Where You Are by Tim Soerens My rating: 5 of 5 stars We're living in a strange time, a historic time, simultaneously keeping distanced from each other due to a global pandemic while at the same time developing a national consciousness about continued racial inequities, and our attitudes toward these things largely depend on politics. I think America has never been more polarized, but then again, maybe my sheltered upbringing kept me from seeing it. At any rate, we are definitely living in a historic time. Most churches are not meeting in person, or if they are, people are being told to wear masks and to socially distance. No hugging. Some churches are adamantly defying the laws, declaring church an "essential service." In this book, Soerens challenges our western association of church with a place, a place where go, a place where we hold meetings, a place where we meet with other Christi...

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay My rating: 5 of 5 stars I don't go into work on Fridays, but that doesn't mean it's a day off, and I have a disciplined schedule to make sure I don't get sidetracked and not get any work done. However, today I gave myself a slacker day, setting aside my regular schedule to finish The Printed Letter Bookshop. This is the story of a small bookstore in Illinois, told from the perspective of three very different protagonists. Yes, three main characters with their own ways of seeing the world, each tied to Maddie, the deceased owner of the bookstore. At first the different perspectives were distracting, but ultimately I came to appreciate how Reay weaves them together to illustrate the necessity of community and the importance of recognizing that there is no single story in a story because we all view events and circumstances differently. There was a happy, fairly predictable ending, but the en...

Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision by Randy Woodley My rating: 5 of 5 stars The culture I grew up in, an American culture, shapes the way we interpret Scripture. The thing is, my culture is not itself Christian, and so it may shape Scripture in ways God did not intend. Woodley, a Cherokee native and university professor, lays out another way to view God's word through the shape of another culture, the culture of Native Americans. This shape expands my view of God, his creation, and humanity's role in serving him. God has not uniquely spoken to us, and Woodley demonstrates how Native Americans have a concept they call the Harmony Way, which is stunningly similar to the biblical concept of Shalom. This book challenged me to see things I have not previously thought of. At the same time, Woodley examines how my culture decimated and lied to the people who lived in this land when Europeans arrived and how the ripples of th...

Where Goodness Still Grows: Reclaiming Virtue in an Age of Hypocrisy by Amy Peterson My rating: 5 of 5 stars If you are a conservative Christian who can't understand how any Christian could support Democrats, this book may be for you. If you are a progressive Christian who can't understand how can any Christian could support Trump, this book may be for you. Amy Peterson, who self-identifies as an evangelical Christian and a Democrat, set out to understand how Christians could wholeheartedly support Trump despite his anger, his sometimes subtle, sometimes overt racist asides, his anger, his name-calling, his lack of the fruit of the spirit. To her, this appeared to be hypocrisy. She loves her family and friends who are Trump supporters and just wanted to understand. In this book, she sets out to explore what the Bible says about kindness, hospitality, purity, modesty, authenticity, love, discernment, and hope, virtues most Christians agree sh...