The Bookshelf 2015 (Part III)

In the third and final installment of the books I read in 2015....

Ordinary, by Michael Horton

 I already kinda wrote about this one here. This is a good book. You should read it. 

Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More, Karen Swallow Prior

This book is the biography of Hannah More, who lived in England in the 1800’s. She was a contemporary of William Wilberforce and, like Wilberforce, used her status as a well-known and talented author to help reform society and abolish slavery in Great Britain. While Wilberforce may be better known for his work in the British Parliament to abolish slavery, More’s work was just as important, if not as well known. She (and her sisters) also did a lot of amazing work to bring educational opportunities to the poorer classes. One thing I appreciated about this book was that, even though More dedicated her life to reforming society, she was not without faults. Showing all sides of her made her feel more “human” and real.

How Now Shall We Live, Charles Colson & Nancy Pearcy

I’m currently participating in the Colson Center Fellows program, a nine-month Christian worldview training program. As a part of this program I have a lot of books to read, “How Now Shall We Live” being one of. This book is long, and took me a while to get through, but it really is foundational in understanding the Christian worldview, as it answers the questions: Where do we come from? What has gone wrong with the world? And what is the answer to society’s problems? I feel like this book should be a “must read” for every Christian, as it will help to shape your thinking and perspective to align with a biblical perspective.

The Midwife of Hope River, by Patricia Harman

I got this book on my Kindle for a few bucks. I had never heard of the author, but the reviews were okay, so I gave it a try. I really like the “Call the Midwife” series, and so was hoping this one would be similar (although fiction, while “Call the Midwife” is based on the author’s true experiences). I was disappointed. In a nutshell, the main character is a midwife serving rural Appalachia in the late 1920’s. The midwife, Patience, as a history of her own which slowly comes out over the course of the book. My main problem with the book are the seemingly small things that just don’t seem to jive with how things would have probably happened. One of my biggest pet peeves was how Patience was always thinking/saying “holy cow” in response to surprising things that occurred to her. I don’t think this phrase was in common use in in an impoverished, rural Appalachian community in the 1920’s. So, overall the book was so-so. But that didn’t stop me from buying the sequel…

The Reluctant Midwife, by Patricia Harman

This is the sequel to “The Midwife of Hope River”, and this story focuses on a community health nurse, Becky, who was a minor character in the first book. Becky had left the Appalachian community, but in this book is moving back there along with the doctor from that community. She had worked for this doctor for many years, including staying with him after they both moved away from the mountains. He had a “nervous breakdown” of some sort, and so she thought the best way to help him heal would be for both of them to move back to Appalachia. Plus, the Great Depression was in full swing, and they were broke with nowhere else to go. They were not married, and Becky acted more as his nurse and caregiver than wife or lover (although that would change by the end, of course. Saw that coming a mile away.) Becky also becomes the midwife to the community. So many problems with this book. First, Becky is a nurse who hates blood and gets squeamish around childbirth. And yet she is the only midwife, so she “bucks up” and does what needs to be done. Why would a person even pursue a career in nursing if they’re squeamish? Secondly, the author seemed to think it okay to pepper unnecessarily foul language (like the “f word”) throughout the book, which was just out of place with the characters and tone of the book. It’s like she was just doing it to be cool or something. And, like in the first book, she has the characters use language/vernacular that I’m pretty sure was not how people talked back then. And, then, there is the utterly predicable ending where the doctor comes out of whatever stupor he’s been in, and the two of them fall in love. Naturally. 

Both of these books disappointed me because they both could have been so much better. The potential was there, but they both just fell flat.

Why You Think the Way You Do, by Glenn Sunshine

This is another book for the Colson Fellows program. It was very readable, and traced the history of worldviews from ancient Rome to modern America. I enjoyed it.

Wonder, by R.J. Palacio

My mom suggested this one. It’s geared toward a middle-school aged crowd, but I still enjoyed it. The story is about a boy with significant facial deformities who begins going to public school for the first time at the age of about 13 or so. Different parts of the book are told from different perspectives – the main character, his sister, his friends, his sister’s friends. It was a very heart-warming story about how this kid learned to navigate not only middle school – which is hard enough – but to do so while having the additional challenge of his physical appearance. I liked how several of the characters – those who were the most endearing – had difficult family lives of their own, which I think may make it easier for young people to relate to who don’t have a “nuclear family” of mom and dad both at home. Overall, I really liked it and it was an easy read.

Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, by Cornelius Plantinga

This is another book for the Colson Fellows program. I was nervous about it at first, as I had to read the first chapter almost twice to really understand it. The rest of the book got easier after that. The book talks at length about different aspects and characteristics of sin, and how sin impacts every area of our lives. I liked it because it gave me a broader and deeper understanding of sin, and therefore, of grace. I also liked it because the author used the word “jackassary”, which you just don’t see often enough in print.

Treasure Island, by Robert Lewis Stevenson

A while back I bought a set of classical books, and this was one of them. I’ve never read Treasure Island before, so was eager to finally read this classic. It tells the tale of a boy, Jim Hawkins, who gets caught up with men and pirates seeking treasure. It’s a fun story, and I enjoyed it.

I met my goal to read 26 books in 2015! I'm going to be doing this 2016 Reading Challenge. I'm doing the "avid reader" level, which is still 26 books in a year, but it will challenge me to read different types of books that I may not otherwise read. I can't wait!