Tried With Fire

My top 10 books of 2019 in the order read: You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit - James K.A. Smith This was a complete game-changer. What if we are more than brains on sticks? What if we are affected by habit and practice as much as cognitively? What then is shaping us and what we love? If this is true, and I believe it is, then we need to be aware and deliberate about the habits and daily "liturgies" we engage in. When I started reading it and listening to an audio version, I showed a chapter to my daughter and had to pry the book out of her hands later. I didn't write a formal review but wrote a few reflections here . On Reading Well - Karen Swallow Prior This is a beautifully written book on pursuing 12 virtues through 12 works of literature. This isn't moralizing but reading that requires critical thinking, making connections, and soul-searching. My appreciation for good books has grown since reading Dr. Prior's books. I wish I could hav...

Then end of 2019 is fast approaching, and people are posting their lists of favorite books and future books. I will post a list of my Top 10 for 2019, but there are still two more days to read in 2019, so I want to keep my options open. It's also hard to pare down the list, so I am putting it off for today. In the past, I had compiled a list of what I wanted to read in the New Year. I don't think I will do that for 2020. I have so many books waiting in the wings on a bookshelf near my bed, literally staring me in the face when I wake up and before I go to sleep. I think that visual will be a better reminder than a list that I post and then forget about. I also want to read because I care , not because it's the latest or most popular book as its only recommendation. I've slowly been moving toward reading for pleasure, reading that is not solely for the brain alone, and taking Alan Jacobs' advice: It seems to me that it is not so hard to absorb, and...

Ever since I read How to Think , which I loved, I wanted to read more of Alan Jacobs' writing. So I found a used copy of his book The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction . 1 It's been sitting in the TBR pile for a while, but I wanted a smaller book to bring on a recent trip, so I pulled The Pleasures of Reading from the stack and took it with me. It's a delightful little book on reading for pleasure and growth. You won't be guilted into reading a list of x number of books that you must read before you die, but Jacob writes about the ways in which we can stretch our minds and tastes as readers. And above all, take pleasure in reading. There are so many quotable quotes, but here are a few that stood out to me: "Above all, take time to discern, what the book - or story, or poem, or essay, or article - has to offer you. Slow down. Make a point of revisiting passages that seems especially rich, or especially confusing, or for that matter especially off...

I have many fond memories of reading to my daughter when she was little. "Read it?" was one of the things she would ask many, many times a day. I loved children's books, so it was a chance to revisit all my favorites as well as find new ones. As a parent, I knew it was good to read to her so she would eventually learn to read herself and express her thoughts in words, but I had no idea of the learning processes that were going on in her young brain. From Reader, Come Home : "When you read to your children, you are exposing them to multiple representations - of the sounds or phonemes in spoken words, of the visual forms of letters and letter patterns in written words, of the meanings of oral and written words, and so on across every circuit component. The young brain is setting down re-presentations of this information every time the child hears, sees, touches, smells books" (pg. 131) "It is the stuff of conceptual and linguistic development (even tho...

It's been a while since I've gotten back to blogging regularly. Part of it is I'm still in mourning for my dad. I think grief is going to be a steady stream that flows below the surface. It may rise or ebb, but it's always there. Another part is having too many thoughts in my head to organize in a coherent manner and reading too many books simultaneously. So in lieu of a pensieve, this post will be the repository for the random thoughts that have been swirling in my brain based on my recent reading. I wonder if my lack of concentration is due to my use of social media. I'm halfway through Reader, Come Home by Maryanne Wolf. (Ironically I learned of the book via @scifri on Twitter.) Wolf is a neuroscientist and reading specialist. She is concerned that too much screen reading is impairing our ability to read deeply which impairs our ability to think and feel deeply. She is coming from an evolutionary perspective, so she believes that our reading brains evolved o...

Cartoon by  Tom Gauld

I had never heard of a beer flight or wine flight until I read Aimee Byrd's post . Apparently it is a way to sample different beverages by beginning with one that is easier on the palate and then moving on to something a bit more challenging glass by glass. Aimee's friend then suggested - Why don't we this with books? Give readers a starting point for a topic and then recommendations for further reading if they want to learn more. This sounded like a great idea to me, so I went through my shelves and compiled a book flight for logic and philosophy. Logic and philosophy??? In the past, I prided myself on avoiding philosophy like the plague in college. I had a friend in grad school with a PhD in philosophy who was now seeing the light and pursuing something practical like computer science. I did not have a high view of this subject. It was the stuff of academic ivory towers with no meaningful application whatsoever. But I was wrong. There came a point when my Christian...

I'm at Out of the Ordinary today sharing some helpful questions to ask about the books we read from No Little Women by Aimee Byrd. If I care about the nutritional value of the food I put into my body, then what about my spiritual diet? An author's claims about his/her book may look promising on the cover, but is it really going to nourish my soul or just give me the emotional equivalent of a sugar rush? ... The saying goes, "You are what you eat." Well, we may be what we read or, at the very least, strongly influenced by it. All the more reason to be wise and evaluate the spiritual nutrition of what goes in our heads. Read the post here .

Look inside, examine it against the Bible (just cited verses don't count), and then see whether it is worth reading or not. Many Christians do not distinguish between a likable personality and the content of that person's teaching... A vital skill for becoming a competent woman is learning how to read well.  We need to be alert and equipped, because Christian bookstores don't have genre labels like "fluff" and "I may look like I have my life together more than you, but I am about to wreck your theology." You would be troubled to hear that women in your congregation were uncritically going on dates with random guys they had met, wouldn't you? What would you do in that situation? You would want to spend some time helping them distinguish between attractive traits and harmful ones. This is what we want to do with the books they are reading as well. No Little Women: Equipping All Women in the Household of God , Aimee Byrd, P&R Publishing, ...

ht: You're All Just Jealous of my Jetpack

I'm going to jump on the 2015 book list bandwagon. The books are listed in the order they were read/listened: C.H. Spurgeon's Autobiography: The Early Years  (audiobook read by Robert Whitfield) - Spurgeon is my favorite dead theologian, and I loved hearing about his conversion and struggles to come to faith. My favorite line is "My mother said to me, one day, “Ah, Charles! I often prayed the Lord to make you a Christian, but I never asked that you might become a Baptist.” I could not resist the temptation to reply, “Ah, mother ! the Lord has answered your prayer with His usual bounty, and given you exceeding abundantly above what you asked or thought.”" The Democratization of American Christianity  by Nathan O. Hatch - A very interesting look at how the mindset of American Christianity was shaped by our culture. The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology  by Pascal Denault - I am indebted to R.C. Sproul for opening up the beauty of Covenant Theology to...

It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary today. My family had the opportunity to visit Prince Edward Island, Canada for a day. In honor of the visit, I read two "new" books by L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables , and her biography. Read about my reading here .

Another round of mini-reviews: The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology - Pascal Denault Credo baptism and covenant theology are not at odds with one another.  Drawing on the scriptures and the writings of Puritans Nehemiah Coxe and John Owen, the author explains the difference between the Presbyterian and Baptist views of covenant theology. An excellent book and a must read if you are reformed Baptist. The Story Girl and The Golden Road - L.M. Montgomery  These two novels tell the story of the youngest generation of the King family.  Like Montgomery's other novels, the setting is rural Prince Edward Island. The children's adventures are funny, endearing, with a little sadness and drama thrown in. The God of the Mundane  - Matthew B. Redmond If you've ever wondered if your boring life matters or has any connection with the Kingdom of God, this is the book for you. This series of short essays by Matt Redmond are a window into his struggle...

Git along, little dogies A few mini-reviews: Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More  by Karen Swallow Prior. Hannah More was quite the Renaissance woman of her time. She was an educator, writer, playwright, and social reformer who was instrumental in the abolition of slavery in England. She was also an activist for education for the poor. If the proof of a biographer's success is how interested you are in the subject when you've finished the book, Dr. Prior has done her job well. Some of Hannah More's works are now on my TBR list. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. This was a mixed bag. Human behavior is fascinating, and I learned quite a bit from the different studies on introversion that are detailed in the book. I could relate 100% to the chapter that focused on introversion and Asian culture. However when the author switched to therapist mode, I was ready to close the book.  Gospel and ...

"Reading brings me meat, meditation brings forth the sweetness. Reading brings the coals to the wood, meditation makes the flame. Reading brings me the sword of the word, meditation whets it. Reading barely, proves pouring water into a sieve; meditation is putting gold into a treasury; the former lets the water out, the latter locks the gold up. Oh let me read much, but let me also meditate much, that meditation and reading may be commensurate; my soul's digestion proportioned to its reception, its taking in by reading: let me read and meditate, that I may not have a meagre, lean soul, like them that have an eager appetite, and a weak digestion; but that it may be fat and well-liking by this good digestion of due meditation… Therefore for richest furnishing us with fittest matter for a best heart frame to perform this daily duty, performing it in the most spiritual and effectual manner, for doing it, as to outdo former, all former doings, we must look to lay the foundation...

I dubbed 2014 "The Year of Reading Dangerously" because I ended up going far afield from my original list and what I would normally read in general. This was fueled in a large part by my coming to terms with past emotional abuse and the evangelical church's often less-than-helpful response to this issue. I admit to struggling with my complementarianism, hence some of the titles below. Don't worry. I'm still on that side of the fence. ;) So without further ado, here are my top reads for 2014: Imago Dei: Made for More: An Invitation to Live in God's Image - Hannah Anderson   Without a doubt, this is the best book I read last year. The adjective that keeps coming to mind is "healthy" because a right understanding of  imago dei leads to a healthy sense of who are in relation to God and to others. Are Women Human? - Dorothy L. Sayers   This contains two classic essays. Sayers is very sharp and witty but also spot on in her call to treat human be...

I've been on a Dorothy Sayers kick thanks to these lectures by Jerram Barrs. Here is a list of recent Sayers' reads: Are Women Human?  - Two short but brilliant essays on how women are perceived and treated. Even though these were written in the 1930s, Sayers' questions are relevant today. Are women human? Or are they sort-of human but not fully human? Busman's Honeymoon - The last of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels and my favorite. Lots of depth in the relationship between Peter and Harriet. The friendly quotation quizzing between Peter and Chief Superintendent Kirk is quite fun. Clouds of Witness - 2nd mystery in the series where Peter's brother Gerald is accused of murder. Sayers makes a small allusion to Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey . Gaudy Night  -  Trouble at a woman's college at Oxford and final resolution of Peter's courtship of Harriet Vane. Strong Poison  - Introducing Harriet Vane in the dock for a murder she did not commit. Tw...

Just completed: An Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose An Unlikely Disciple is the true story of a liberal, non-Christian, Brown University student who goes undercover at Liberty University for a semester. Roose is interested in learning more about the Evangelical culture that is so foreign to him, so what could be better than infiltrating a bastion of fundamentalism and finding out for himself? Although I would not identify myself theologically with Liberty, in a sense the book shows what "we" look like to an outsider. His story is very interesting and often funny, but it's rather touching and sad as well. It's clear that Roose meets believers who genuinely love the Lord, but it also reveals how easy it is for someone to put on a Christian facade by just doing the "right" things. He left Liberty after one semester acknowledging positive things about Christianity and yet not coming to faith hims...

Finished: Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking  by D.Q. McInerny - This little book gives tips on thinking and communicating clearly through a better understanding of logic.  Read one of my favorite quotes here . Created in God's Image by Anthony A. Hoekema - A survey of the doctrine of imago dei through the scriptures and church history and its relation to salvation, sin, and humanity. Interestingly Hoekema does not advocate dichotomy or trichotomy but  "psychosomatic unity" because man is a whole being with a physical and nonphysical side. The implications of this doctrine are manifold in how we treat one our fellow image-bearers. Is God Anti-Gay?   by Sam Allberry - A look at what the Bible says on sex, homosexuality, and the hope offered by the gospel. This would be a good followup to Rosaria Butterfield's book. Through His Eyes: God's Perspective on Women in the Bible by Jerram Barrs - In the foreword, Barrs states that his aim is to encourag...