good readings on my travels:
Practicing Passion: youth and the quest for a passionate church, by Kenda Dean. i finally read the last 1/3 of this great book. the last 1/3 isn’t as fantastically brilliant as the first 2/3, and i had to choose to read; but it was an important book to actually finish. i still put it in the top three or four best youth ministry books i’ve ever read — maybe even the best.
Persepolis 2: the story of a return, by Margane Satrapi. loved this sequel almost as much as the first book. i love illustrated books, and this one was wonderful, both in story line (and ideas), as well as illustration.
Plan B: further thoughts on faith, by Anne Lamott. most people i know were disappointed with this book, so my expectations were pretty low. maybe that allowed me to enjoy it more than i expected! i’d heard so much about all the bush-bashing in the book, that it felt to me like there wasn’t that much of it — she actually sets the stage by peppering her thoughts with anti-bush stuff, but then wrestles through some of that in the latter chapters. not even close to traveling mercies, in terms of great books on faith; but i’m still glad i read it. only real peeve was that the font leading (the line spacing) is so wide, the book could have been 1/3 less pages (or, she could have written more). it was way too quick to read.
The Fabric of the Cosmos: space, time, and the texture of reality, by Brian Greene. i was 25 pages into this before leaving. now i’m 100 or 150 pages in. it’s not easy reading. and it was the last book i got to before tiring of non-fiction, and borrowing the following from a friend on the trip (plus, i was trying to read it during my 48 hour sojourn home, and was just to brain-dead)…
The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. karla yaconelli read this on her sabbatical, and found it wonderful (really, life-changing) in her own processing of mike’s death. i’m half-way through this extremely intriguing story of love and loss, and can see why. but it’s also just immensely enjoyable reading.
And there is a problem with Bush Bashing?
:)
By the way, night WordPress template. I’m now glad that I didn’t use it.
hey jay — nice to see you here. i have nothing against bush-bashing at all. i would just, normally, prefer polemic politics not be trojan-horsed into an anne lamott spirituality book. but, again, i thought it actually fit (at least more than i expected). i mean, she’s pretty dramatic about her level of dispair (can hardly get out of bed some days because of this president) — but, hey, that dramaticism is part of what i love about her.
i don’t understand your comment about WordPress, though…