Read all the things. Learn all the things. Talk about all the things.

It has been a long time since I used this blog to reflect on my devotional reading, and I wonder why. I was reading, mostly. I have some things written in my private journal, but those are mostly not in response to books. In fact, given that I have been working through a very short book by Manning and a longer book by Dekker since May, I think the reason may be that I am not doing a lot of devotional reading. Both books have reflective questions at the end of chapters, and that is amenable to reflective writing, but I haven't taken the time. I'm reading steadily, mostly, but in short spurts. And I'm distracted by prepping for the start of class, responding to student work, creating a schedule that has taken me too long, and planning for the trip to Dallas/Cancun. (What will I wear for the wedding? Am I thin enough to wear a two-piece swimsuit? Hey! I want to do brow micro-blading so I can go in and out of the pool and still look like I have eyebrows.) And that...

The Avenue Goes to War by R.F. Delderfield My rating: 0 of 5 stars One of the things I like about reading physical copies of books is its actual physicality. In the days when I read hard copy books, I choose what to read from the weight of the book, the cover, the synopsis on the back of the book. Now I primarily choose books by their price. Are they on sale? Is the Amazon description of the book intriguing? Of course I have forgotten that description by the time it comes to choosing a book from the list on my Kindle. And then the list is long. It's like going into a library. I have a list of books I want to read, but I've forgotten why I wanted to read them. I also have no idea how long they are when I choose to buy a book. I imagine I could find that information, but that is besides the point. I think I chose this book because of its subject matter, how a neighborhood in England deals with the strain of war. I did not know the book was publ...

The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard My rating: 4 of 5 stars This 1998 book by Biola philosophy professor Dallas Willard has become a Christian classic, so I purchased it several years ago and it sat on my shelf until I read a book by John Ortberg who mostly talked about Willard's influence in his life. The book was "meh," but Willard seemed like someone I might like to read. I pulled the dusty tome off my shelf and started the book last April. I am finally finishing. It took me a long time to get through the book for several reasons: 1) the book is big and long and heavy; 2) I have been traveling and did not want to take the book on airplanes; 3) it is deep and I needed to think about the ideas Willard was putting forth in order to hold them and let them speak to me. That is not to say that the book is hard to understand; it's just that the ideas are deep. We can skim over a book on disciple...

A Reunion in Time by Russell F. Moran My rating: 2 of 5 stars I was still reveling in Where the Wind Knows when I started this book. Ah, time travel! And then I remembered, when it is done well, it's great. And when it's not, it's just annoying. This was annoying. It started well. Surprising. The protagonist is attacked by a man in a black robe. As per his FBI training, he respond quickly. Definitively. It turns out the attacker in a robe is a priest. And the protagonist has moved from the present time to the past, just a few days before 911. He is in his high school, in his high school body. In the present, he is 37 years old, and in 2001, he is 17. He narrates with sarcasm, authority, curiosity. With profanity. The priests don't seem to mind. And at least one believes him--or at least seems to. His parents believe him. And here the story breaks down. It moves quickly and neatly and mostly people believe him. The protagonist is joine...

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon My rating: 5 of 5 stars I'm not really sure why, but I do love a good time travel novel. Maybe it's because I'm always wondering what it might be like to live in a different time, a different place. (How much of who I am is based on me and how much is based on the time I grew up in?) This book draw me in quickly. Anne Gallagher is a novelist whose Irish grandfather raised her, taught her Gaelic, told her the stories her learned in childhood, influenced her more than anyone else. He instructed her to take his ashes and spread them in Ireland after he died. She rents a boat and finds herself in 1921, spending time with her grandfather, who was orphaned in the Rising, a rebellion against the English. She looks like her great grandmother, and everyone assumes she is his mother. And she is falling in love with her great-grandfather's best friend. Harmon tells the story through the eyes of her protagonist, ...

Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald My rating: 4 of 5 stars I started this book when I got to Baltimore. A little here. A little there. After a bit, I couldn't put it down. A railroad engineer going to work at Grand Central Station in New York runs into an enigmatic woman one morning. She is endearing. She seems confused. She seems like she is from another time. And he can't quite forget her. A year later, exactly a year later, he sees her again. This time he has breakfast with her. He learns her address and her name. And then he loses her. A little research reveals she died in a terminal accident several years before. What has he just encountered? And so begins the story of Joe and Nora. And World War 2. Of loves and losses and hopes and disappointments. Of moving forward when staying put seems safer. This isn't just their love story. It's a story of America. And pursuing adventure. I did not buy this book on sale, bu it was definitely ...

On The Eve of War: Three American Sisters Share Their Travels Through Europe July to August 1939 by Arthur Johnson My rating: 1 of 5 stars I have never given a book a single star, but that's it for this one. To be fair, this is a published journal of a woman who is not a writer, who visits Europe with her sisters the summer before World War II begins, and writes a journal of what she sees. She has great observations with lots of details, but nothing happens. Nothing. And so readers have all these details but they have no purpose. They don't DO anything. I kept reading to see if there was something that mattered, but nothing mattered. And that's the detail. Disappointing. I'm sure this is very cool for family. I hope I didn't pay anything for this book. View all my reviews