- O Jerusalem – Laurie R. King
- The curious incident of the dog in the night-time – Mark Haddon
- Passarola Rising – Azhar Abidi
- A Letter of Mary – Laurie R. King
- Three Men in a Boat (Not to Mention the Dog) – Jerome K. Jerome
- Three Men on the Brummel – Jerome K. Jerome
- A Monsterous Regiment of Women – Laurie R. King
- Waiting – He Jin
- Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
- A Circle of Quiet – Madeleine L’Engle
- Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt – Anne Rice
- The Journals – Soren Kierkegaard
- Becoming Human – Jean Vanier
- The Summer of the Great-Grandmother – Madeleine L’Engle
- Obasan – Joy Kogawa
- The Inner Experience – Thomas Merton
- Walking on Water – Madeleine L’Engle
- And it was Good – Madeleine L’Engle
- The Care and Feeding of the Offshore Crew – Lin Pardey
- A Stone for a Pillow – Madeleine L’Engle
- The Calvin and Hobbes 10th Anniversary Collection – Bill Watterson
- Sold into Egypt – Madeleine L’Engle
- Red China Blues – Jan Wong
- River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze – Peter Hessler
- A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Bad Beginning – Lemony Snicket
- A Series of Unfortunate Events, Reptile Room – Lemony Snicket
- Stardust – Neil Gaimon
- Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – JK Rawlings
- Peter Duck – Arthur Ransome
- A Circle of Quiet – Madeleine L’Engle
- Eragon – Christopher Pauolini
- Eldest – Christopher Pauolini
- A Generous Orthodoxy – Brian McLaren
- The Blind Assassain – Margaret Atwood
- The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism
- Cry, The Beloved Country – Alan Paton
- An Embarassment of Mangos – Ann Vanderhoof
- Birds without Wings – Louis de Bernieres
- The Glass Castle – Jeanette Walls
- A Passage to India – CS Forster
- Ishmael – Daniel Quinn
- The Goose Girl – Shannon Hale
- Angels and Demons – Dan Brown
- The Ordering of Love – Madeleine L’Engle
- Understanding China – John Bryan Starr
- The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Tag Archives: books
Book List December 2006
- The Princes of Ireland – Edward Rutherford
- Angel – Colleen McCullough
- The Swallows of Kabul – Yasmina Khadra
- The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
- The Game – Laurie R. King
- Locked Rooms – Laurie R. King
- The Moor – Laurie R. King
- Justice Hall – Laurie R. King
- Still Life – Louise Penny
- The Beekeepers Apprentice – Laurie R. King
books
help!
I think I have the most vexing decision of all to make now: I have to decide what books to bring with me for a 3 month trip in europe. I know I can always pick up new ones over there and swap the ones I bring at hostel libraries, however it still remains that I need a book or two to start with. Part of me wants to bring an old favourite like one of Madeline L’Engle’s journals or other non-fiction, another part wants to bring a really good theology book I have never gotten through from cover-to-cover like Packer’s Knowing God, or another part says bring the longest fiction novel I can get my hands on… suggestions?!?
DaVinci
Interesting take on Dan Brown/stupid controversy arising from his book.
Also, here is the best quote about the quality of the book/movie yet:
“Ron Howard’s adaptation of Dan Brown’s best-selling primer on how not to write an English sentence … is one of the few screen versions of a book that may take longer to watch than to read.” — A.O. Scott, NEW YORK TIMES
The Secret Message of Jesus [Book Review]
I posted here awhile back that I got a [free] book in the mail from a publisher to review and post my review on here and a few other places. Well, the great unveiling has come (for those who I have a) not already excitedly told about it or b) not figured it out by the cover being conspicuously posted in the side index) and I am now writing my review. In typical Gillian fashion, it is being posted 2 days before it is due. Come to think of it, that is actually record earliness for me. Well done Gillian!
Anyway, enjoy! And then go read the book… there is a link below to the Amazon site for the book, but support your local Christian book store and get it from them instead (or be cheap and read my copy – it is the “Advance Reader’s Copy” after all, which makes it automatically cool!).
The first time I read one of Brian McLaren‘s books, it was like I was reading a more eloquent and better thought-out version of my own thoughts. McLaren has, since the first one of his books I read (3 or 4 of his books ago…), consistently challenged my thinking with his fresh insights into the Christian way of life. This book is no different. In The Secret Message of Jesus (subtitled “Uncovering the Truth that could Change Everything), McLaren deals with the person and, primarily the message of Jesus. Much like Phil Yancey did with the person and character of Jesus in his book The Jesus I Never Knew, McLaren steps back from the common images and perceptions we (both Christians and not Christians) have about Jesus and his message to take a long, hard look at the New Testament to see what the message really was.
The book is divided into three sections. The first deals with the context of the message. McLaren places Jesus and his teaching in a political and cultural context as well as looking at the impact the message would have had on contemporaries and how it turned their world upside down. He also spends time assessing the “hidden” aspect of Jesus’s message – how it seems so obscure and, well, hidden at times, questioning why Jesus would need to do such a thing. If Jesus’s message truly is as important as Christians seem to think it is, why did Jesus speak so obscurely at times, never giving a straight answer?
The second section deals with the meaning of the message: how Jesus presented the message impacted its effectiveness (for lack of a better word) and influenced how it was received then and how it is still received today. It impacts how we take that message and incorporate it into our lives, living it in daily life.
This leads to the third section which is, perhaps, the crux of the whole book. The section is entitled “Imagination: Exploring How Jesus’ Secret Message Could Change Everything” and proceeds to do just that. Chapter after chapter in this section looks at different situations and what it could/would/should be like if we lived according to Jesus’s “secret message.” What if the message weren’t a secret anymore? What if Christians started to actually live it? If McLaren’s ideas as written here were actually lived out in the world, what would the world be like? It is the kind of thing that gives both hope and despair simultaneously: hope that we could actually achieve this and despair that we have gone so far from this ideal, both Christians and not Christians.
As I said at the outset, I have enjoyed all of Brian McLaren’s books thus far. They have been both challenging, stimulating, and refreshing all in one. This one was no exception. It was really good to read and especially thought-provoking at times. It made me think about how I live my life in response to “the secret message” and what I should be doing in my life. I’d definitely recommend it, and I’m looking forward to re-reading it when I’m not in school so I can fully digest what McLaren has to say and spend more time in study with my Bible beside me.
Note: Brian includes three appendices in the book, one of which discusses “The Prayer of the Kingdom.” It is quite good but, apparently, has been left out of the final copy of the book that went to the publishers (I have a pre-publication version, so its in there). Anyway, if you want to read it, the chapter has been posted on McLaren’s website here.
If you end up reading the book, drop me a line and let me know what you thought. We can have a little debate, I’m always open to those, especially with classes almost over (3 days left baby!) and not too many finals on the horizon.
A New Kind of Christian…?!?
For some “light” reading over the break, I borrowed, from a friend of my dad’s (and have subsequently gone and bought for myself), a trilogy of books by Brian McLaren – A New Kind of Christian, The Story we Find Ourselves in, and The Last Word and the Word After That. Fascinating. Very thought provoking. They have stimulated some interesting thought directions in my brain over the last 10 days or so. If you haven’t read them, you should at least take a peek at them (even if it is just the first one). I think that I have found some expression to nebulous ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for the last little while.
The challenge of the first one is being a Christian in a postmodern world. The church, despite its desire to be relevant, is still quite modern. However people are not, especially not my generation. How can I expect them to engage in a faith, religion, worldview (whatever your prefered term is) if it is not available in their “language”? We go to great lengths to translate the Bible into other languages so that people will be able to hear the gospel, but so many people who speak our own language miss out because we aren’t presenting Christ in a way they can understand. I mean, if I hadn’t been raised a Christian, I’m not sure I would be seeking out the church and Christianity the way it is now. So then what can I/we do? How can I/we become relevant? Well, thats one of the questions that’s been bouncing around lately.
Maybe we should lose the lable “Christian” and all the baggage that comes with it and focus on Jesus Christ. Isn’t that what Christianity is supposed to be about in the first place?
Another book I read over the holidays (I know, I was busy) was Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Another excellent book. A story he tells in it really caught my attention: in the midst of a huge drunk-fest on his campus, he and the 7 or so other Christians on campus got together and made a confessional booth. They spent the day walking around in monk’s clothing, then went and sat in the booth. Students would come in and jokingly ask if they were supposed to “confess” everything they had done over the course of the drunk-fest. Instead, the group of Christians confessed to the students of their campus – confessed that Christians in general, and they themselves, hadn’t really been living up to what they should be. They hadn’t loved the people on their campus as much as they would have liked to, they had been judgemental… they went on and on. In the end, the Christian students had a profound impact on other students at their very secular American college. That really impacted me. How many times have I had the same attitudes to people on my own campus. Smug superiority, judgement… I’m not sure I want to think about that. What would the world look like if we dropped the lables and just tried to follow Christ? I mean really follow Him…
gillian's island 