books.2006

2006

The Miracle Worker, William Gibson.
I saw his Christmas play, Herond the Nut… and was
amazed. When I found this play on the shelf at Powell’s in
Seattle, and for a few dollars, I bought it impulsively. It is a play
with punch, very physical, one I want to see on the stage in my
lifetime. Gibson inspires me to write for the stage. Someday….
His line, “obedience, without understanding, is a form of
blindness too,” could have left me on the floor for hours.

With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray.
My friend Melanie Hurlbut introduced me to Murray during my School of
Biblical Studies in Malaysia. Though I already owned a copy, I bought
it at OM India’s bookshop for a few Rupees. I read through the
book daily on my trip with the E for Everyone crew from Hyderabad,
India to Kho Lak, Thailand. It challenges me and reminds me to come,
no matter what to our generous Heavenly Father. I’m excited
about learning more about how to pray as I continue to read the book
throughout my life.

Such a Long Journey, Rohan Minstry.
It’s rare that I don’t like a book I pick up to read.
Unfortunately this was one of them. Perhaps I shouldn’t have
read the back cover of the novel first: the list of awards and
critical praise for the book raised my expectations and likely did not
set me up for success. It was interesting to read parts of the book in
its setting while in Mumbai on travels. I did like the ending which is
usually the part of a story, even stories I enjoy, that I am most
critical.

The Valkyries, Paulo Cohelo.
This was the first Cohelo novel I have read, and likely will not be
the last. A number of my friends – smart, reading friends – have raved
about The Alchemist. The book is stunning in its vision and
honesty, and a bit trippy as well. I read the book on a bus ride
between Chiang Mai, Thailand and Bangkok. The airconditioning hardly
worked, I was dead tired, it was dark since we were traveling through
the night, and I read by my friend’s pencil flashlight. But the
story so gripped and pulled me inside itself, that I couldn’t
put it down. Like Paulo, we should all covenant to no longer raise our
hand against ourself. And, like him (and you’ll understand this
more clearly if you read the book) I think I need the courage of a
woman, too.

The Old Testament Template, Landa Cope.
A good introduction and challenge to the Kingdom Gospel; a challenge
to the Church to not just ’save ‘em’ and leave
‘em, but to go back to the faith roots of the Old Testament and
learn from Moses about how to disciple and grow a nation, and perhaps
in doing so change the world.

My Life in Pictures, Malcolm Muggeridge.
Holy smokes! What a life. I’m inspired to write, to be, and do
it honestly. A teacher in India, an man of intrigue in Africa, a voice
of truth, and doubt, and ultimately faith in Europe. I’m
reminded of a book by Dr. Suess a friend gave to me when I completed
University: Oh the Places You Will Go. The book inspires me
to consider possibilities and to dream at a time when I very much need
to do both.

Microserfs, Douglas CouplandFunny and enjoyable. An older work by the author, prep for his new
J-pod. Quirky, bizarre, outlandish at times and fully
believable. Coupland makes such pertinent observations about
contemporary (post)humans. One to add to Nancy Batty’s list if
she were to ever teach a class on cyborgs and post-humanism. Explores
the body, its limitations, and the implications of technology. And I
realized after finishing the book he brushes up against the vision for
what I want creative community to look like. With a touch of
heartbreaking, his territory, since he examines human beings and how
they engage each other and their world.

The Whimsical Christian: 18 Essays, Dorothy L. Sayers

Playwright, mystery novelist, Christian apologist, and translator,
Sayers examines the connection between faith and aesthetics and how
faith informed her world. Previously published as Christian
Letters to a Post-Christian World. Intelligent and even sassy at
times, Sayers throws punches and lands necessary blows, informs and
delights. “The Dogma is the Drama” and “Towards a
Christian Aesthetic” are worth the price of purchase in and of
themselves. But there are many more treasures to be found.

The Hiding Place. Corrie Ten Boom, with John and
Elizabeth Sherrill.

This book is a must read. I’m fascinated by this time in
world history. Such a time of darkness and change where the only
thing more surprising than the evil and cruelty of the Nazis was the
courage and faith of people who suffered under them and resisted them.
Full of treasures, what is more fascinating still is the story of how
a family lived a practical, day-in-day-out life of faith and followed
the path of obedience to God and his principles into a concentration
camp. A book that rattles and overwhelms, teaching much about love,
forgiveness, endurance, and the Divine through a story that does not
posture or put on airs. Miraculous, honest, terrible, but full of
wonder too.

Blankets, Craig Thompson.

The first graphic novel I have read, I found it in Kuala Lumpur
during my friend Colt’s wedding weekend, but didn’ t have
the Rinngit to purchase it then. Fast forward a year or so later and
it fell off the shelf in my local bookstore. I was thrilled to find
it and I read it in one sitting. The story of young man who grows up
in a fundamental Christian home who loves to draw but is guided by
poor shepherds who cannot see that the very thing he was created to do
is the best way he can serve and please God. A truthful story of
first love and finding self against the backdrop of hypocrisy, purity,
and condemnation: a wonderfully styled, award-winning page-turner.
And a sad comment on how legalism can so tightly grip Christians until
there seems only two choices: leave the fold or stifle and choke.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen.

An enjoyable summertime read with the right amount of romance,
humour, and intrigue. It’s so nice to read great characters
meet their match. Impossible to not imagine Knightley and MacFadyen
as Lizzy and Darcy.

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Anne Rice.

The best book I’ve read this year! Exquisite and
imaginitive, it makes me love God more and sit in wonder contemplating
the foolishness, the wisdom, and the great risk of the Incarnation. I
can’t wait for her next volume in the story (an account of
Christ’s childhood from the Christchild’s perspective) and
can’t believe how thorough and relentless Rice is in her
research. The book is worth price of purchase for the Author’s
Note included at the back, with its list of authors and books and
words about the story behind the writing of the novel. I’ve
never had a literary character stick with me for so many days!

Night, Elie Wiesel.

You don’t want to imagine what happened, you try to put
yourself in the horror and cannot. Such evil and darkness,
that’s why I want to read his follow up autobios, Dawn
and Day, to read what he has learned or concluded.

Dawn, Elie Wiesel.

An eerie, occasional book that examines the execution, by the hand
of the narrator, of an imprisoned British soldier at the hand of a
Jewish terrorist/freedom fighter.

Day (formerly known as The Accident), Elie Wiesel.

I read Dawn and Day as autobiography, but it turns out I was wrong.
At this point I imagine the books as fictionalized tails Wiesel has
constructed to examine themes of meaning, lonelieness, death, and life
after horror. Wiesel paints a face of evil and suffering that is both
haunting and disturbing.

The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde.

A breath of fresh air, a fun read in a landscape of otherwise
serious and heavy reading. Fforde creates a world where literature is
religous, dodos are reintroduced to humanity, time and reality bend
frequently, and where literary figures can be kidnapped and held for
ransom. I look forward to what follows for Thursday Next. Thanks to
Chris for the suggest.

Humility, Andrew Murray.

I’m sad to say that too much of this book was far over my
head. An important meditation on the humility of Christ and
exhortation to get with the program. A good way to finish the year,
hopefully 2007 will see more humility in my life.