I just picked up The Lovely Bones at the library and I am making my way through Mclarens A New Kind of Christian.

Look forward to hangin out here more…
-jeremy

“Everyday Deserves a Chance” - Max Lucado
“Holy Discontent” - Bill Hybels
“Confessions of a Pastor” - Craig Groeschel

For Drive Time:

“Make It Stick” - Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Up next on drive time - “The Search” - John Battelle

I’m not sure if there is anytime after that.

Velvet Elvis was great… lovin’ me the Rob Bell, and The Lovely Bones was haunting and lyrical and moving, although I confess that as a daddy, I had to force myself to continue with a book that includes a child’s perspective on her own rape and murder. I was literally ill during the first 50 pages.

Back to the books.

So, has anyone else read this GOD: A BIOGRAPHY book by Jack Miles. It was a best seller a while ago and did in fact win the Pulitzer.

It’s really pretty interesting to me. They guy is reading the OT as if God where the main character. I’m only part way through, but it has cast God in some interesting light based on his interactions with the Israelites and Abraham. It is at least a fresh take that poses interesting questions.

Like this:
Those wandering Israelites are always complaining about God leading them around and they would rather go back to slavery in Egypt. Nothing new there.

But have you noticed how much God complains about the Israelites and threatens to destroy them. Then why did he pick them in the first place? He seems pretty regretful in the first couple books of the Bible.

And if the Israelites are complaining so much, are they just living out there God-given role as image bearers? Then why is God complaining? Makes him sound like a petulant, grumpy fool!

Finally, a God I can relate to personally. Phew. No wonder He knows me so well.

Real Chad meet Zack….

You guys are sooooo BFF.

You know, like that kind of lame.

Then again, whatever blows your skirt up, I guess.

Tonight I read the Dr. Seuss dictionary to my son. Well, we did letters Z, J, F and G. There’s a real shortage of Z words in the world.

Also, I’m drunk.

June- I agree with Paul. You can’t be very lame if you are digging into the Art of War. Now if you had said that you like to read “People” magazine and can wait for the last of the Harry Potter books and had pre-ordered Paris Hilton’s Jail Time Journal, then you might be pretty lame. But the most lame is not being yourself just to try not to seem lame.

You know what’s also a really good book….

THE BIBLE!!!

Expecially the parts with all the murder and sex. And explosions! Ka-plowie!

June — you’re raising kids, and you’re not lame. It’s a full time, demanding, critically important job that doesn’t include a lot of spare free-reading time. All in due time.

I don’t think I’ll read the book but maybe I’ll start calling my husband “Sex God.” It could be encouraging.

GOD, A BIOGRAPHY by Jack Miles
It pretty refreshing and it won the Pulitzer, but we all know that is just a popularity contest.

Just finished THE HISTORY OF WARFARE by John Keegan
Take that Clauswitz, ya jerk!

Bathroom reading:
Autoweek, Cycle World, Car Magazine, Cook’s Illustrated (is that weird to reading cooking on the throne? kinda brings it full circle doesn’t it.)

Drive time:
Uhm… I listen to music.

Quiet time:
It’s hard to read a book on a motorcycle

Music reading:
Frank Zappa’s HOT RATS and APOSTROPHE
Now that’s really doing some reading.

To comment on the above:
WAR OF ART - was great and a surprisingly beneficial blind library find. and it was short. and much better than “Bagger Vance”.

Eat, Pray, Love:
Listened to part of it on tape. It was OK. I think some of the revelations discovered traveling all around can be found just as easily punching a co-worker in the face really hard. Just my opinion though.

Sex God: The regurgitation of a bunch of sex junk with a PoMo slant
First off, I thought this book would be about Tom Jones or Sophia Loren or someone like that. Secondly, I didn’t realize that this Rob Bell guy was one of those Nooma dudes who says stuff like “What if God really does care about your (insert subject here)?” and then he looks wistfully away at a tree, or a fire, or rock or a wicker man made of popsicle sticks. I don’t get it. Thirdly, this dude didn’t tell me anything new about sex or God or how God deals with sex or Genesis (the book OR the band) and why so many Christians are so screwed up when it comes to sex. Lastly, is God even a “sex God”? Like if we have a sex drive, and God made us in His image, does that mean He has a sex drive? And why is God interested in controlling our sex and procreation? You know, crap like that.

Maybe I should pick up “The Science of Orgasm”? Do you think Dallas Willard will ever right a book about orgasms? Does that make anyone uncomfortable?

OK, I’m done now.

I think you will LOVE “Jun Q’anil”. Zack’s sister recommended it to me. Apparently her best friend is close with the Author. She told me that she initially heard about Nagler’s experiences through her friend, before Nagler even wrote the book! I actually loved this book more than “Eat, Pray, Love”, but the level of spiritual experience Nagler recounts is a bit deeper than Elizabeth’s and I know some people that just couldn’t handle the “woo woo” aspect of the journey. Let me know what you think.

Wild Wild World, of the Paragon Publishing Questions and Answers series, promises “a fascinating question and answer book featuring the world’s most dangerous and exciting animals.” Who knew that the notion of ‘yes, I want to have kids someday’ walks hand in hand with ‘yes, I want to read very little other than what appeals to those kids.’ Ah well…I figure I’m a better person for knowing that the neck of mamenchisaurus was 50 feet long, wood ants fire a stinging acid from their abdomens and that some seals swallow stones and pebbles.

I’ve also been reading the most recent issue of Sunset magazine and a book about marriage that is ok but not profound enough for me to remember the title or to get up off my tuckus right now and go find it. I check the blog of my friend Kim almost daily (http://gratitude365.blogspot.com/) and when my wee darlings have sapped me of all strength, I can be found reading the back of frozen, boxed food items sometime between 5:00 and 6:00pm.

Sometimes I pick up Brian’s golf magazine for half a second when I’m in the potty…but mostly I don’t, because reading in the bathroom is just gross! (What is with all you people?!)

Oh, and I’m going to order The Dangerous Book for Boys soon as well as a couple other short books about art and God and all that.

Forgot to mention a quick but fun read, “Jim and Casper Go to Church,” from the George Barna group. An evangelical pastor and an atheist who are good friends pack up their laptops and hit the road, visiting various churches (including several of the high-profile type) and comparing notes. Entertaining and eye-opening.

Also just ordered: Life Together (Bonhoffer), A Confession (Tolstoy), Jesus and the Forgotten City (Batey), Colossians Remixed, Sheet Music, and The Science of Orgasm (Komisaruk). Eclectic? I think so.

“The Princess Bride: the 25th Anniversary Edition” Yes, it’s the counterpart to the ‘classic’ movie, yes I’m a geek, but it’s actually very well written, very intelligent and very funny. Sue me.

When I need a break from the heavy subject of Princess Bride, I read a few more pages of my new APU Staff Handbook, just in case I need a refresher on “Pregnancy Related Disability Leave”. Whew, good to know…

Also I fill every spare moment reading the Azusa Pacific University Undergraduate Catalog, 2006-2007 edition. It’s a page-turner.

1776 by David McCullough
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham
Memorial day by Vince Flynn (special thanks to Phil Weiss for a dirty, dirty habit)
Strip City by Lily Burrana
U2 bu U2
Joni Mitchell Complete Powms and Lyrics
The Good German by Joseph Kanon
Seeing Things by Seamus Heaney
Secrets In the Dark (A Life In Sermons) by Frederick Buechner
Punk Monk by Pete Greig
Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor

I’m a one-book-at-a-time kinda girl, so quiet time, potty time, etc. all get the same treatment. I’m loyal that way. Books I’ve read in the last month:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I’d been feeling guilty and uneducated due to my Marquez-lessness, having never picked him up before now. Boy, Oprah was right: He kicks nombre. And I was totally blown away at how well his work translates to English. Funny, wise, quirky, spiritual, painful — it all comes through. “Turn of phrase” isn’t something that usually translates well, but Marquez’s work is a languid, language-loving exception.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon. I got turned onto this guy a couple years ago with his Pulitzer Prize-winner, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (not to be missed), and Chabon’s newest novel does not disappoint. I could not have liked it more without risking bodily injury.

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, much-revered for his novelized histories of ancient Greece, such as Gates of Fire (which kicks Frank Miller’s ass from here to Sparta), Tides of War and Last of the Amazons (which is as good as ancient Grecian proto-feminist literature gets). If you’re a creative type (and who the hell else hangs out here?), this little book will give you the swift kick in the ass you didn’t know you wanted.

From Jesus to Christianity by L. Michael White, an academic yet accessible look at the people, cultures and events that formed early Christianity. Sounds like a snoozer, I know…but it was actually quite fascinating. Did you know that 2nd-century Christians wrote the ANE-equivalent of fanfic about the apostles? Yeah, me neither.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. See Sara’s comments above. Loved it. Om.

And, of course, reading for my day job. Let me break cover by recommending Raising Fit Kids in a Fat World and The Relief of Imperfection, both due out in January. I’m actually proud to have worked on these puppies.

Geez. No wonder I never get any writing done.

Maybe Father Time could turn back the clock and pretend the first one wasn’t posted :)

sorry,
jeremy

Anyway…books:

Leisure/Reading Time:
“God and Empire” by Crossan
“Writings and Difference” by Derrida
“Jesus” by Marcus Borg

Jesus time:
“Jesus the Pastor” by John Frye (cause I start seminary this fall)
Working my way through Proverbs this month (which is funny cause I grew up in fundie land and NEVER did the proverbial [pun intended] chapter-a-day-in-proverbs-for-a-month-keeps-the-devil-away thing before…but I like it!)

Potty-time/work breaks (which are almost one in the same, cause both are meant to relieve you of waste…)
Lastest issue of WIRED
ADBUSTERS: the fake issue

Anywho, I used to enjoy communing with you all back in the day and lookin over the fence from a distance, so hopefully I can join back in all the fun :)

-jeremy

Anyway…books:

Leisure/Reading Time:
“God and Empire” by Crossan
“Writings and Difference” by Derrida
“Jesus” by Marcus Borg

Jesus time:
“Jesus the Pastor” by John Frye (cause I start seminary this fall)
Working my way through Proverbs this month (which is funny cause I grew up in fundie land and NEVER did the proverbial [pun intended] chapter-a-day-in-proverbs-for-a-month-keeps-the-devil-away thing before…but I like it!)

Potty-time/work breaks (which are almost one in the same, cause both are meant to relieve you of waste…)
Lastest issue of WIRED
ADBUSTERS: the fake issue

Anywho, I used to enjoy communing with you all back in the day and lookin over the fence from a distance, so hopefully I can join back in all the fun :)

-jeremy

I’ll pick up the Nagler book.

I’m reading Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. It’s full of true stories about people who found themselves in peril. Either they should have survived, but didn’t… or they shouldn’t have survived, but did. He doesn’t make great implications about applying their practices to one’s personal life, but I’m find myself naturally doing that on my own.

I did read a great Don Miller book, Through Painted Deserts, recently, and I loved it.

This story is down to Earth, while being up in the clouds. It’s real and raw and outrageous at the same time. For me, it got to the heart of the issue of finding your happiness within yourself. This woman is amazing and courageous and forthcoming, and she is also you and me. I am currently reading it for the second time. In her journey she learns about Food in Italy, Faith in India, and Self Love in Indonesia.

If you read this book and it resonated with you, read “Jun Q’anil: One who walks the way”, by Jessica Nagler. This is a similar story but with much more spiritual overtones. So if you’re not keen on talking birds and Mayan Priests stick with the previous recommendation. This book one was life changing for me. Really a profound read!

That’s the end of my reading rainbow book review.

:)

Sara

Quiet time: “The Divine Conspiracy” by Dallas Willard (my guru — in case you hadn’t figured it out yet, everything you read or hear that strikes you as completely spot on originated with Dallas).

Potty time: Entertainment Weekly (Please refer to the comment about epiphanies above — I prefer to not have great ideas while on the pot).

Beach time: (We have a beach???)

Drive time: Any and every sermon from Ortberg and Bell, just as fast as Paul can download them from the internet for me. (Was there life before these two people?)

That’s it. I’m not ADD like some people I know and love — I drink deeply from one or two books at a time. :-) (I love you, sweety.)

Currently reading “Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith” by Diana Butler Bass. This book is based on her year-long study of vital mainline churches in America. You may think such a thing is hard to find. so did she until she looked. Her surprising discovery is the motive for the book.

Just started “The Forgotten Ways” by Alan Hirsch. So far it seems Hirsch thinks that the best models for church ended in 313 AD when Constantine ruined Christianity by making it legal.

Just started “Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality” by Rob Bell

I have not gone on summer vacation yet so “fun” reading is not on this list. I am hopeful I will pick up some ideas for that list here.