2014 Bookshelf

I had great intentions this year to again do a quick synopsis of books I read each quarter, but alas, it's more than halfway through May and I've not even done any of the books I've read up to this point. Therefore, consider this the synopsis of my 1st-and-a-half quarter books:

My goal in 2014 is to read 21 books. This is fewer books than I read in 2013, partly because I have some intentions to read some meatier books, versus books that are easy to just fly through. I'm not sure yet how well I've done with fulfilling that intention. The year is still young, though.

So, with that, here's what I've read so far this year:

And the Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini
I've read the other books Hosseini has written (The Kite Runner, 1000 Splendid Suns), and, like the others, this one was primarily set in Afghanistan (although the story does also spend some time in Paris, San Francisco, and Greece). One difference between this book and his others is that it seemed there was no one main character in the story. Instead the book spends time telling the story of multiple characters whose stories are all interwoven together. Throughout the book there seemed to be a theme of identity: each character trying to find his/her identity, or coming to grips with how they have failed to live up to the identity others have made for them. I didn't enjoy this book as much as Hosseini's other books, but overall it was pretty good.

Not by Sight: A Fresh Look at Old Stories of Walking by Faith, by Jon Bloom
This book is a compilation of well-known stories from the Bible, but written in such a way that makes you pause and wonder anew about the faith in God that the person in the story must have had to demonstrate. As example, here's the beginning paragraph to one of the chapters on Joseph:
"Have you ever wondered why God sent the angel to inform Mary that she would conceive the Messiah by the Holy Spirit, yet forced Joseph to agonize over what to do about Mary's pregnancy before sending an angel to him? Imagine what those throbbing, awkward hours must have been like for him."  I loved reading stories from the Bible that I had read many times over, and seeing new truths in them. It was also great that the book was self-contained chapters, making it easy to read a chapter here or there in any order.

The author, Jon Bloom, is the president of Desiring God ministries, which is the ministry that makes available John Piper's sermons and writings. Bloom writes with a similar pastoral tone as Piper, which makes this book that much more practical to application to daily life. I highly recommend this book!

Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
I picked this book up at random while at the library. I had heard of the movie that this book was based on, but had never seen it. The story is set on a small, rural island in the Pacific Northwest, and the story goes back and forth between the early 1940's - just before and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor - and the years just after WWII. There are a couple of different story lines weaved throughout the book, but the main story is that of a Japanese fisherman who is on trial for murdering a fellow fisherman on the island. There's definitely a "whodunit" feel to the story, but at the same time the flashbacks in the story go back to the days just after the Pearl Harbor when the Japanese on the island were forced into interment camps. The themes of race, prejudice, love, and revenge all run throughout the book. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Ordinary Grace, by William Kent Krueger 
I picked up this book based on a review I had read about it. The story is set in rural Minnesota in the 1960's, told from the view point of a 13-year old boy, Frank. The story spans just one summer, and tells a tale of tragedy that comes to the town and Frank's family. Frank's father is a small-town minister, so much of the story is about the grappling with faith in the midst of personal tragedy. In a way, the main character reminded me of my dad, in that my dad would have been a young teenager in the early 1960's, and he too grew up in a rural community. That's where the similarities end, but maybe it was just knowing from seeing pictures or hearing stories from my dad's childhood that made the setting for the story really come to life. Or maybe it was the the author's good writing. Either way, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were written in a way that made me really care about them, and the ending had a bit of a twist to it, which is always fun.

Before Green Gables, by Budge Wilson
I was super-duper-uper excited to find this book. This book tells the story of Anne Shirley's life before she arrives at Green Gables. (If you have no idea who Anne Shirley or Green Gables are, I feel sorry for you.) Obviously, it is not L.M. Montgomery writing this book, so it's the story of Anne as envisioned by the author, Budge Wilson. (Aside: Budge is a weird name for a woman. She's Canadian, so maybe that makes it okay?)

Alas, I was also super-duper-uper disappointed with this book. It had none of the magical spark that makes the "Anne" books so wonderful, and, in too many places was just rather strained and unbelievable and made my eyes roll. It's like she was trying too hard to make Anne, Anne. And some of the things she had the characters do or say were just odd. For example: We all know that Anne's mother and father die of a fever when she is just a tiny baby, hence her being an orphan. In this book, as Anne's mother has fallen ill with the fever, Anne's father thinks to himself that he is certain Anne will not get sick because he had read somewhere that breast milk strengthens a baby's immune system, and would therefore help keep Anne from getting sick. While I'm sure this is true, I doubt that this fact was known by doctors - let along the general public - back in the late 1800's when Anne was (approximately) born. There were more of these weird types of incongruities that made the book hard to get through. Especially odd was the point in the story where Anne was living with a family that had two cats, and Anne names them "Gilbert" and "Sullivan". Gilbert? Really? It's almost like Budge had never read any Montgomery's book to realize that the name Gilbert carries special significance. I had high hopes for this book, only to have it disappoint me tremendously, almost to the point of being in the "depths of despair".

Unplanned, by Abby Johnson
This book is the true story of a woman who worked for Planned Parenthood for a number of years, and left the organization after participating in an abortion to join the pro-life movement. The story is good, and it gives insight into some of the behind-the-scenes operations of Planned Parenthood. I appreciate that the author, Abby Johnson, had the courage to tell her story. However, she is clearly not an author by trade, and the book could have benefited from some more editing work, as it felt at times like I was just reading someone's journal entries. Overall though, it was good and I would recommend it.

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Full disclosure: I got about halfway into this book, and couldn't go any farther. This is about the 3rd time this has happened to me. This book was on my goal list of books I wanted to read in 2014, due to having read Eric Metaxas' biography on Bonhoeffer last year, which renewed my desire to read The Cost of Discipleship. Plus, I sort of had this sense that any Christian girl who is *really* serious about her faith will have read this book. So perhaps it was the desire for bragging rights that also drove me to want to read this.

Truth? This book is hard, man. Bonhoeffer was deeply intellectual and a top-notch theologian, writing an original audience with similar characteristics. While there were certainly bits and pieces along the way that I was able to take in with understanding, I too often found myself reading the same paragraph over and over just to absorb what was being said. Because of this, it was easy for me to spend time not reading this book. Then, because I have this weird thing about me where I only like to read one "Christian" book at a time, being stalled in the middle of this one prevented me from digging into another book that may have been more edifying to me. I finally had to put aside my pride and admit that I may never make it all the way through The Cost of Discipleship, and that's okay. My salvation and eternal security does not depend on having finished this book, and the books I read should not be the indicators that demonstrate the importance of my faith in my life.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell
I bought this book on a whim at Barnes & Noble, which is rather unlike me, but I'd heard a lot about Gladwell's writings, and was curious to try him out for myself. I'm glad I gave him a try, because he is a very gifted writer. This book is about the science behind how people make split-second decisions, and our ability to make very important decision, with surprising accuracy, in seconds. He also explores the "what and why" behind how poor split-second decisions are sometimes made, given the events that people are experiencing at the time. The book is informative and educational, yet reads easily is very engaging. It makes me want to read more of his work.

In the Land of Blue Burqas, by Kate McCord (a protective pseudonym)
My mom recommended this book to me, as she had read it for her book club. It's the story of a woman, Kate (not her real name), who gives up a well-paying job to work for a non-government organization working with women in Afghanistan. Kate is a Christian, so it seems that her real purpose for being in Afghanistan was to bring the Gospel there, and that the NGO work was the vehicle by which she was able to live and work in the country (tentmaking). Each chapter of the book was a self-contained story in a way of Kate's interactions with her friends and co-workers, and tells of her experiences living as a Christian women in a Muslim country. Overall, I would give this book a rating of just "okay". The stories started to get a bit repetitive after a while, which made me get bored with the book. I admire her courage and conviction to move to Afghanistan to do this work, and maybe some better editing of the book would have helped the story come across in a more engaging way.