Roots and Sky: An Invitation to Marvel and Feast [Review + **Giveaway!**]

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Christie Purifoy has become one of my favorite modern writers. I first “met” her when we were both writing for Pick Your Portion, and I loved her contributions so much that I started following her around the internet. Almost every time she posts something she’s written, I don’t merely read, but feel compelled to comment—and it’s usually some variation on “Wow, Christie. So, so beautiful.” Her voice is lovely, piercing, elegant. So when she announced that she’d signed a book contract, I was eager to volunteer for an early review copy!

Roots and Sky: A Journey Home in Four Seasons is the story of Christie’s first year in her dream-come-true farmhouse, Maplehurst. She explores the way pain and joy commingle in the everyday and what it really means for dreams to come true. In the opening essay, she introduces the journey this way:

"A few weeks after moving in, one of my boys slid belt-buckle down and carved a deep scratch the entire length of that beautiful banister. Somehow I most clearly grasp the living reality of my dream come true when I touch that scratch or remember the miserable heat of that first day. We live in a good world shackled by decay. A world that always seems to fall at least a little bit short of its own promise. Yet glory dwells here too. Heaven and earth meet in scratches and scars. In broken banisters and in a Body broken for us."

[TL;DR review here--but keep reading below for the giveaway!]

Christie is a prose-poet, and her writing is exquisite. It's lyrical in a way that is very accessible—not the sort of flowery, trying-too-hard language that many readers find off-putting, but clear, vivid language with striking metaphors. It has richness and depth. Christie’s wonder and her hunger are contagious. She invites the reader to marvel with her, feast with her:

“I cannot tell whether or not these ordinary days are significant in the story of myself, in the story of my daughter, in the story of Maplehurst. Perhaps they are not. But can it be this lack of significance that makes them such a gift? They are gloriously excessive. Like a whole bowl of mismatched beads just asking me to thrust in my hand and wave my fingers. Like a sky spilling over with stars. Every moment I fail to record in Elsa’s baby book is like an unseen galaxy or an unnamed planet. Created but unobserved. Made but unremarked. What are they for? Why does God make them anyway? For the joy of it?

“He gives the blue-sky day in a month of blue skies. He gives the hand-holding day in a decade of holding our child’s hand. He gives the sunrise and sunset, always and again. He gives me a husband in the kitchen making breakfast. Not because it is Mother’s Day or because we have a new baby, but because it is morning. Again, it is morning. Again, we hunger. Again, we are satisfied.”

Yet this isn’t just another “find the beauty in the ordinary” book. Its light is crisscrossed with shadows. Christie isn’t Pollyanna; she writes not only of extravagant beauty, but also of anxiety and loneliness, depression and failure and loss. In the “Winter” section, she reflects on shielding her young children from the lines in Matthew 2 about Rachel weeping for the children of Bethlehem:

“One day they will know just how good and just how terrible the story is. They will know what Rachel’s voice sounds like, and they won’t be able to rid their minds of its awful cadence. I cannot spare them forever. Always there are more heartbroken mothers. Always there are more tears. But they will also know Emmanuel. They will know the good news of incarnation. That God walks with them, always already in the darkest places. He is especially present in the very places we imagine he cannot be. He is there holding Rachel, whispering his promises. It will not always be like this.” 

Christie doesn’t merely cling to sweetness; she fights for hope.

“This is not my first spring, and here is something I know: the day when daffodils emerge is not the day for hope. The day when seedlings show the bright green of new life is not the day for faith. That day came and went. Hope is for the dark days. The days when all you can see is mud and mess, like so many forgotten toys strewn across the backyard. Those are the days when miracles begin.”

The thing that has moved me to tears more than once in the midst of this book launch is the timing of it all and how prophetic her words have proven to be. Just weeks before the official release date, her family was devastated by tragedy, as her sister’s husband was one of the Marines lost in the January helicopter crash off Oahu.  Christie’s testimony to God’s faithful presence in the midst of unfathomable grief is startling—as she puts words to this sorrow, reading her most recent blog posts has felt to me like standing on holy ground. 

Even in heartbreaking grief, she bears witness to redemption—the priestly role she wrote about in the latter part of her book:

“The shifting seasons usher in so much redemption, even the redemption of one overgrown lilac. As priests we are witnesses to these redemptions. We are here to receive, to name the work of God’s hands, as Adam once named, and to proclaim, ‘Heaven and earth are full of thy glory!’” 

The beauty she captures is messy, not tidy; it is a beauty that makes you tremble. She describes this in the book’s final season, “Summer”:

"True beauty is not vague or distant. It is not a rose-tinted vision. Beauty belongs to the waking world. If beauty comes from God, then we will not find it in abstraction. It does not live in dreams; it lives in dirt."

I felt the need to read through Roots and Sky quickly in order to post an early review (only to procrastinate from writing one for more than two weeks…OY), but I hated to rush—it is a book to be savored, one from which I have copied many quotes and to which I expect I’ll return again.

And, great news: Revell graciously sent me an extra copy to give away! It is my delight to share this beautiful book with one of you. Comment on this post to enter, and earn extra entries through the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be announced on Saturday, February 27. 


Rita: Your visit to and "liking" of Christie's Facebook page was the lucky winning entry as randomly determined by Rafflecopter! I'll be contacting you to get the book in your hands ASAP :)

For those who didn't win, you can buy a copy of Roots and Sky through Amazon or Barnes and Noble. At only $8, you can easily justify treating yourself to a brand-new paperback (or pick up the Kindle version for even less)! 

One final note: Amazingly, Christie’s creative gift is not limited to words. She also has a way with a camera, and she captures the colors and light of Maplehurst in photos almost as gloriously as in sentences. You’ll definitely want to follow her on Instagram.

Nonfiction of 2015: Miscellaneous

Today's post is the last in my annual reading roundup--after reviewing all the memoir and poetry yesterday, I'm collecting the rest of the nonfiction (from theology to biography to psychology/sociology and more) here.

My favorite "spiritual growth/theology/Christian living" book of 2015 was, without question, The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts. I found it phenomenally wise and helpful and lovely. I read a lot of other interesting and worthwhile nonfiction, as well as a few duds--some purely entertaining, some deeply insightful, some a strange mix of truth and nonsense. Below, from five-star on down...

My rating system:

***** Loved it, would definitely read again

**** Liked it, would recommend

*** It was OK

** Didn't really like it

* Hated it

The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts - Joe Rigney*****
An excellent, beautiful book. It’s crammed with rich theology that will make your head spin (in a good way!), yet also full of intensely practical and down-to-earth insights and wisdom. The tone is so winsome—warm, humble, empathetic, contagiously excited about who God is and what He gives. Rigney writes in a clear, compelling way, taking aim at false guilt and casting a vision for how to live abundantly and generously. If you’ve ever feared that maybe you love your blessings too much, or if you’ve ever wondered how to navigate a healthy, godly balance between enjoying earthly pleasures and sacrificing for the sake of the gospel, or if you’ve struggled with how to respond when blessings are lost, you’ll find this book immensely helpful.

Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself - Joe Thorn*****
I don't do well with "devotional" format books (which is why it took me over two years to finish this one)...but this little book is really excellent. Pointed enough to make you squirm at times, yet brimming with joy and hope, it's a wonderful, useful collection of 48 short exhortations to remember what's true and live like it. I should immediately start back at the beginning.

Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory - Ben Macintyre (audio)*****
A little difficult to get into (at least as an audiobook), with so many characters to keep track of--but in the end, I enjoyed this immensely. I have read/heard/watched a fair amount about WWII, but had never before thought about the influence of espionage on the outcome of the war. It was fascinating to hear about the intelligence and counter-intelligence, the way psychological maneuvers affect battles and nations and ultimate results. The author also had some really profound statements to make about human nature and how our willingness to be deceived plays a huge role in whether we believe lies. Worthwhile story for sure.

Somebody Told Me: The Newspaper Stories of Rick Bragg*****
I really believe Bragg is one of the greatest writers of our time. His raw talent + polished skill with words makes nearly any subject compelling. He has this way of telling a story that is understated instead of melodramatic, which serves to pierce the reader with the drama of the tale. The chapter epigraphs in this volume are a perfect example--one or two elegant, startling sentences that say so much, so simply. And he makes the most diverse characters come to life. If you haven't read any of Bragg's work, I'd start with his first memoir, All Over But the Shoutin'. But this collection of feature articles from The New York Times is wonderful too--nice to dip in and out of, savor just a small piece at a time.

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God - Timothy Keller****
It's hard for me to review this because I read it over the course of the entire year--receiving it for Christmas in 2014 and finishing it in December 2015. It's immensely rich and helpful, as I almost always find Keller to be, but it's a lot "headier" than some of Keller's other work, especially in the beginning (the footnotes are slightly overwhelming). For that reason I'm not sure it would be a good introduction to prayer. I also think it can easily discourage anyone who doesn't already have much of a prayer life, despite Keller's efforts to encourage the beginner. Still, it's definitely valuable, and I expect to refer back to it to strengthen my weak prayer life, as he provides lots of practical suggestions and examples.

The Gifts of Imperfection - Brené Brown****
I finally gave Brené Brown a try after being intrigued by her work and hearing others rave about her for years. The first sentence of the introduction told me I'd have to read with a filter--yet I think there is much value in this book if read critically through a gospel lens. It is so good, and yet it falls so short of a biblical worldview. Much (most?) of what she says is absolutely fantastic. But the "you are enough, you are OK" mantra, absent of really dealing with the fundamental reality of sin and inadequacy, left much to be desired. I think the gospel provides richer and more satisfying answers to the problems she diagnoses, but if you can map that onto her work yourself, you'll find plenty to chew on. I definitely plan to go back through all my many highlights and to read more from Brené Brown. I find her style winsome and compelling, and I generally think she's brilliant--she just doesn't go far enough. As this review of her most recent book puts it: "The gospel offers a deeper hope than what she describes, yet what she offers can point the way forward—if you follow it to its logical conclusion—to our need for God’s love in Christ."

Is God Anti-Gay? And Other Questions About Homosexuality, the Bible and Same-Sex Attraction - Sam Alberry****
A very short (I read it in one quick sitting) but wise and helpful little book. Only an introduction to complex and sensitive issues, but the way the author (who experiences same-sex attraction but chooses to remain celibate) answers some of the "classic" questions/objections on both sides is winsome and compelling. 

For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards - Jen Hatmaker****
I weirdly (stubbornly?) didn't want to love this because of the way everyone and her sister was fangirling over it and the way all the advance hype took it to the top of all the lists. But what can I say? There is a reason Jen Hatmaker has so many fans. She's funny and clever and has a lot of true and meaningful things to say in the midst of the hilarity. Steve even picked this up, which cracked me up. I think the subtitle is a bit misleading/overambitious, though. It mostly felt like a collection of random, unrelated essays--like basically the publishing team went, "We know we can sell a book with Jen Hatmaker's name on the cover, so we'll let her write about whatever blessed thing strikes her fancy." As this review points out, her use of the word "grace" rings a bit hollow in the end. Still, a fun read.

The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work - Kathleen Norris****
I really enjoyed this short little gem of a book. Lots of lovely food for thought and inspiration for the ordinariness of daily work and life.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy - Eric Metaxas***(*)
Bonhoeffer was indeed an admirable and compelling man, and reading about his life as well as excerpts from his own writings made me interested in reading more of his work. However, I kind of felt like Metaxas seemed intent on canonizing him. Perhaps he really was an extraordinarily saintly man and I'm just a cynic. But it was like he had no flaws, which felt unrealistic. Anyway, the story started slow and was longer than it needed to be, and I didn't appreciate the overly obvious "foreshadowing." Still, it was a fascinating look not only at an extraordinary man, but also at 1930s Germany. I think since the victors write the history books, I had absorbed an overly simplistic view of WWII as Germany = Evil, Allies = Good Guys. So it was enlightening to read about all the Germans who despised Hitler for what he was doing to their beloved country, and it was heartbreaking to learn about foolish decisions (made by the British especially) that could have, perhaps, changed the course of events dramatically. All in all I *do* recommend it. You just have to be patient through the slow parts.

Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time - Greg Ogden***(*)
I skimmed the first half of this; it is great material, but very very familiar to me after having spent two years in college working with a ministry for whom this was the heartbeat. The second part, which promised to "take this biblical vision and translate it into a [workable] church-based model of disciple making," was the tool/model/nitty-gritty "how to" piece that has been missing for me. I feel a bit skeptical of a few of Ogden's minor points, but on the whole I think this was a good reminder of a familiar vision with some helpful added nuances/tweaks. I'm excited that our pastor is advocating this and hoping to implement it in my own life soon.

Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda - Michael Barnett***
This is by far the least-accessible book I've read on Rwanda. But while it's thoroughly awful to slog through (it reads like a dry academic dissertation), I do think it's an important analysis of the international community's role in the 1994 genocide. Other books I've read on the topic focus more closely on events in Rwanda; this one was centered on the UN and whether the Security Council, the Secretariat, and/or member states bear moral responsibility for the genocide. I thought Barnett's research and conclusions were thorough, balanced, fair yet pointed. In between the incredibly tedious writing and interminable paragraphs, he also had some profound things to say--provocative truths about the nature of bureaucracies and morality and about human nature in general. 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo***
To me this seemed like equal parts valuable tips and utter nonsense. I was torn between wanting to attack my house and get rid of lots of stuff and try to implement some of her suggestions...and throwing up my hands because the methods she insists on feel completely unattainable and unrealistic. Some of what she said made so much sense and was insightful. Some of it was downright ridiculous. Very woo-woo "your possessions have feelings, your house will talk to you" etc. Read if you have three weeks to set aside to tidy your entire house and change your life, and/or if you want a good laugh, and/or if you are concerned that your socks are sad because you fold them in a ball in your drawer. 

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think - Bryan Caplan***
Curiosity made the cat pick this up based on the title alone. (And no, my reading and reviewing it does not mean I am open to your nosy questions about whether or not I want or plan to have more children.) It was provocative for sure. Caplan makes some compelling arguments. He's also annoyingly repetitive, a bit alarming/discouraging in his treatment of adoption, and totally neglects to address some of the significant reasons people might choose not to have more children, especially from a woman's perspective.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania - Erik Larson (audio)***
Did not enjoy this nearly so much as Devil in the White City. It was mildly interesting but not overly compelling.

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness - Timothy Keller**(*)
I normally love Tim Keller, but this booklet (it can't really be called a book) was not really anything new if you've read C.S. Lewis. Those who have never heard his perspective ("humility isn't thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less") or who have never been exposed to the gospel third-way thinking about self-image (with low self-esteem and high self-esteem being sides of the same coin, neither desirable) might find this very helpful and revolutionary. But if those ideas are familiar to you, you probably won't find anything new here. It's a very quick read, so it can't hurt. But  I sort of felt like Keller wasn't telling me anything I hadn't heard before, and yet he didn't develop the ideas enough to help me really get a handle on HOW, practically, to get there. So I came away thinking I hadn't learned anything new and hadn't gotten any closer to applying what I already know. 

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas**(*)
I'll admit that I don't often really love "devotional" type books in general...but this one was definitely not a favorite. It sounded so promising, but in between the big-name authors on the cover were a bunch of people I didn't know whose work was not particularly wonderful to me. I really enjoyed a handful of the pieces; most of the others were very "meh" to me and several were downright awful. (Many were also much longer than I prefer in this type of daily-reading collection.) I'm rounding up to 3 stars, but I won't be keeping this for future reuse. 

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune - Bill Dedman (audio)
This book was kind of like a train wreck: gruesome, and sad, and not edifying in any way, yet you have this morbid curiosity and you can't look away. I alternated between feeling disgusted by Huguette Clark and feeling sad for her. The opulence of her and her family's lifestyle was appalling. The squandering of so many millions of dollars, unbelievable. It all just seemed like such a waste. Wasted money, wasted lives. The latter part was something like a real-life version of Grisham's Sycamore Row, with a hotly contested will, but it wasn't resolved in a satisfying way. I'm not sure how many stars to give this--not because the reporting or writing was terrible, but because in the end, the woman's life did not seem worth giving my time to learning about. I did finish; the story was fascinating at times. Just kind of morbidly so.

Other books I abandoned:
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey - Candice Millard
I was eager to pick this up after loving Millard's Destiny of the Republic, but I wasn't motivated to finish. It was mildly interesting, and I was curious how it turns out, but I just didn't care enough about the characters or the quest. When my Kindle said I had another 3.5 hours to go, I just kept thinking about all the other books I could be reading in that time. 

Italian Journey - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I ordered this old book through interlibrary loan and was startled to find it was a massive, 500-page volume. So I skimmed only the parts about cities I was going to visit. I found some really poignant quotes, but also a lot that didn't interest me at all. Many of the quotes were lovely and yet melodramatic--I felt like either Goethe was over the top about Italy, or he was dead on and you really can only understand once you've experienced it yourself. After having been there...I'm inclined to say he was perhaps a bit melodramatic.


What were your favorite nonfiction reads in 2015? 

Nonfiction of 2015: Memoir and Poetry

Most of my reading each year is nonfiction, so I'm splitting the long list into two parts. Since I seemed to read quite a bit of poetry and memoir this year, I've collected those in today's post and will review the rest of the nonfiction later this week.

My favorite in this category was Amber Haines' debut, Wild in the Hollow: On Chasing Desire and Finding the Broken Way Home. Runners-up would be Lauren Winner's Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis and Preemptive Love, Jeremy Courtney's book about humanitarian work and peacemaking in Iraq.

My rating system:

***** Loved it, would definitely read again

**** Liked it, would recommend

*** It was OK

** Didn't like it

* Hated it

Wild in the Hollow: On Chasing Desire and Finding the Broken Way Home - Amber Haines*****
Exquisite. This one earned endless underlining and dog-earing and a permanent place on my shelves. Amber's story is so very far from my own, and yet she tells my story. It pierced me and it settled my restless soul. Wise and beautiful words of hope and light and life and home. 

Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis - Lauren F. Winner****
I'd forgotten how much I love Lauren Winner. I hadn't read any of her books in years, but fifty pages into this one, I had dog-eared four spots (yes, I am that kind of sinner). At the last lines of one chapter, I whispered a relieved "Oh. Yes." Winner writes beautifully and while her theology/philosophy is in some ways very different from mine, her words resonated a lot nonetheless. She is also the kind of writer who stirs up the writer in me, for which I'm always grateful.

Preemptive Love: Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time - Jeremy Courtney****

Courtney's account of moving to Iraq and pursuing life-saving, peacemaking work with his family there is powerful and timely. My only real complaints are that the chronology was confusing, and that he alluded several times to significant struggles in his marriage, the way his work caused pain to his wife or produced tension in his family, but never explained or resolved any of these references. Otherwise--a beautiful and compelling story. It made me realize how very, very little I know about Iraq and made me very interested to follow Preemptive Love and learn more. I'd probably give it 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because I really would recommend it. [Note: if you are local to Nashville, I saw several cheap copies of this at McKay in December!]

Every Bitter Thing is Sweet - Sara Hagerty****
Sara's story challenged and inspired me. I deeply appreciated it, yet I also struggled with parts of it. I did underline a lot of powerful, poignant lines and paragraphs. 

The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion***(*)
This was on the syllabus for the creative nonfiction writing class I took in college, and I can see why. Didion's memoir opens with the death of her husband and explores her experience of grief during the first year without him. Her spare prose--so unembellished and understated--made the bare facts more haunting. It was raw, fractured, even disorienting, but in a skillful way.

Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater - Frank Bruni***(*)
This memoir from a former NYTimes food critic was fascinating and sad, funny and disturbing. In between the mouthwatering descriptions of Italian food and the amusing anecdotes about his family's cooking, he made some profound and poignant observations about food, overeating, and the jacked-up way so many of us misuse and abuse food. It really is impressive that someone who struggled with bulimia and being overweight most of his life was able to settle into moderation and achieve a healthy weight when he was a professional eater, taking on extravagant dinners in restaurants 7+ nights a week.

Found: A Story of Questions, Grace & Everyday Prayer - Micha Boyett***(*)
was only recently introduced to Micha Boyett's lovely writing when a friend shared her post introducing her son, born last month with Down syndrome. I got the free Kindle sample of her memoir and after trying to underline stuff twice, decided I definitely wanted to read the rest. I kept waffling on my opinion of it. It really wasn't the most spectacular memoir, but much of it was lovely and thought-provoking, and although I often felt unimpressed, it ultimately really resonated with me and my spiritual journey.

My First New York: Early Adventures in the Big City - New York Magazine***
A fun little bathroom book. (Is that TMI?) My favorite kind of bathroom book, too: short, stand-alone chapters/stories. Inaccessible and nonsensical to anyone who is not, like me, a hopeless New York romantic. Also not particularly helpful for cultivating contentment if you are 33, married to someone who inexplicably hates the world's most wonderful city, and yet unable to accept in your heart with authoritative finality the reality you will never, ever be a New Yorker. :) Otherwise, a somewhat enjoyable light read. 

A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny - Amy Julia Becker***
I always hate to give someone's personal story a negative review. But I felt pretty "meh" about this one. Neither the writing nor the story itself were particularly striking.

Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story - Ken & Joni Eareckson Tada**(*)
This was just OK. I admire Joni so much and she certainly testifies to the beauty and glory of Christ in powerful ways. But this book's style/voice struck me as kind of cheesy. I also didn't like the way it was organized--jumping all over the place in time, from their dating years to the early 2000s back to the 1980s.

This is Just to Say: A Collection by Mary Brown's Students
Full review/explanation (including my contribution) here.

Jagged with Love - Susanna Childress
Susanna graduated from IWU a couple of years ahead of me, and she was an incredibly talented standout--hence her being selected by no less than Billy Collins to have her first manuscript published under the Brittingham Prize for Poetry. I was so in the mood to read more poetry when the Mary Brown tribute was being compiled, and after it came out, I was so blown away by Susanna's fantastic submission that I finally bought her first poetry book. She is clearly very good, and very sophisticated--to be honest, I felt dumb as many of the poems went over my head. Even her vocabulary was beyond me at points, and I think I have a relatively impressive vocabulary! Still, there were definitely poems and lines of poems that I loved and appreciated, and I could appreciate that she *is* talented even as I struggled to understand them on a deeper level.

Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth - Walter Bruggemann
I didn't find this as deeply moving and helpful as The Valley of Vision, but it does have a lot of beautiful and inspiring poem-prayers. 


I hope to read more poetry in 2016. Do you have any favorites to recommend?

Fiction of 2015: Grown-Up Novels

Besides all the read-alouds, I did make it through some grown-up novels last year. My favorites were All the Light We Cannot See, which seemed to be popular everywhere (it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction), and Cutting for Stone, which I listened to and loved. Otherwise...quite a few of my 2015 novels were somewhat controversial in content, I'll be honest. Here's to more discriminating choices in the coming year.

For various reasons, I didn't or couldn't rate half of the novels I read this year, but for those I did rate, my system is:

***** Loved it, would definitely read again

**** Liked it, would recommend

*** It was OK

** Didn't really like it

* Hated it

All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr*****
It's a rare book that keeps you in suspense up through 97% and isn't merely tying up loose ends at that point. Up until the very end, in the second week of January last year, I was ready to say, "This novel will not be beaten for my 'best of 2015' list." But. But! I couldn't decide what I thought of the ending. It seemed disappointing and abrupt. Still, even if I wasn't totally satisfied with how it ended, it enthralled me from page one and it was incredibly well done. The characters were so vivid--I especially appreciated the way the author made certain German characters human. The Nazis were still portrayed as deplorable, but I was impressed and moved by the way you saw their inner struggles and motivations. The whole book was full of sympathetic characters, the kind who stick with you. And the writing was skillful, compelling.

Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese (audio)*****
WOW. What a powerful book. An epic story, and so beautifully told. It stunned me at times. Compelling characters and plot twists that constantly had me going "OH MY GOODNESS I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING...but of course! How did I not see that coming?!" I really enjoyed it as an audiobook too--the narrator is not a native English speaker, and his accent seemed to make the story feel more authentic. Disclaimer for the sensitive: It does have some graphic descriptions of medical procedures, some very disturbing. It also has a few sex scenes--though I will say that while these made me uncomfortable, they bothered me a lot less than in other books that are pure fluff/chick-lit, where it's less necessary to the plot/characterization and more just titillating/mere entertainment. IMO, the literary quality and value of the book outweighed these concerns, but your mileage may vary.

The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison****(*)
I tried to read a Toni Morrison novel in high school, but wasn't ready for it and couldn't get through it. I've grown up enough, and my perspective of the world/capacity for empathy has increased enough, for me to be able to appreciate her work now. I understand why people find this book offensive and don't want their kids reading it for a school assignment. It has some profoundly disturbing graphic content. Yet I also understand why it is considered a classic, important novel, and I understand why Toni Morrison has won the awards she has. The story was haunting, and masterfully told. Painful, hopeless--definitely not a beach read--but heartbreakingly "true." I was astonished, and unsettled, by how Morrison could evoke even a tiny amount of sympathy for such unsympathetic characters.

The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant****
I always struggle to know how to review books with R-rated content. I do think it's different than movies, but it's still a gray area. This had some content that might offend the conscience, but for me it was a fascinating, compelling story--very provocative. Set in Renaissance Florence, it definitely worked to whet my appetite for visiting Florence.

Pompeii - Robert Harris****
A gripping novel about the 79 A.D. eruption. Coarse at times, to be sure, but that aspect seemed to me to be true to the cultural history, not necessarily gratuitous. The historical details about the Roman aqueducts, Mount Vesuvius, and the culture of first-century Campania were fascinating.

What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty****
Chick-lit, but still thought-provoking. An engaging and suspenseful story with enjoyable twists and turns. 

A Home at the End of the World - Michael Cunningham
My favorite literature professor from college recommended this to me quite some time ago. I can definitely see how reading it in her Contemporary Lit class would provoke lots of thoughtful discussion; it's full of complex relationships and themes that pushed me *way* out of my comfort zone. To that end, the content was such that I don't think it was a particularly edifying book for me to read on my own, without opportunity to discuss, analyze and think carefully about its themes. 

Home - Marilynne Robinson (audio)
I don't even know how to give this a rating. It was a troubling, depressing book--but Robinson is a gifted writer, for sure. Also I think Jack Boughton might be the most devastating character I have ever encountered in literature.

The Food of Love - Anthony Capella
Another Italy novel, this one set in modern-day Rome. It whetted my appetite in a more literal way, with its tantalizing descriptions of classic Roman foods (one of the main characters is a chef who sets out to woo a girl through his cooking). However, this was much more of a fluff read than The Birth of Venus, and while it engaged my attention, I can't recommend it based on the gratuitous sexual content, crass language, and negligible literary value. Also, I didn't love the ending, and one of the main characters was really not likable. OK, so basically its only value was educating me about Roman food.

The Wedding Officer - Anthony Capella
I gave Capella one more chance with this novel set in Naples during World War II. Maybe the content is typical for romance novels, and I was just surprised by it because I don't read that genre. This one, too, had marvelous descriptions of traditional Neapolitan foods, so it was great to read in preparation for our trip. But ultimately I don't recommend it, again based on the R-rated content (less explicit than The Food of Love, but still beyond what I am comfortable with).

Lila - Marilynne Robinson (audio)
I find Marilynne Robinson's novels difficult, for reasons I'm not sure I can identify or articulate, and yet I keep coming back to them. Her characters are poignant and compelling, and she often writes beautiful, stirring sentences. This third book (also set in Gilead, Iowa, and covering roughly the same time frame as the other two but told from a different perspective) fills in a lot of background about Lila Ames. Since I was listening instead of reading, and took a big break in the middle, I struggled with the chronology a bit, especially toward the end. I still can't quite decide what I think about the book on the whole. I never manage to give her novels star ratings. They often leave me unsettled. 

Abandoned novels:
A Soldier of the Great War - Mark Helprin (audio)
This is another of the books I picked up in preparation for our Italy trip (yes, I was a bit obsessive)--though it also happened to be on my want-to-read shelf because of friends' rave recommendations. I was interested enough, but with all I had going on in the summer/fall, I just didn't listen very often. It got to the point where I'd taken too many long breaks and didn't really remember what was happening...and it's SO long...that I ended up jumping ship.

What novels did you love in 2015?

Grayscale: A Tribute to a Beloved Professor

Today is Epiphany--and the fact that Epiphany is also the birthday of a favorite professor of mine (I remember this because she wrote a poem called "Epiphany" and shared it with us one semester), combined with the fact that all this just happened to come up in conversation with a friend yesterday morning, prompts me to take a quick break from my book roundup to share about one special book in particular.

Dr. Mary Brown was one of my very favorite professors at Indiana Wesleyan University. I started off my first semester in her World Literature class, and I went on to take five more writing and literature classes plus an independent study with her. So to say she had a significant influence on me would be a massive understatement. 

Dr. Brown retired this spring, and a couple of younger alumni solicited submissions to put together a book in her honor. HOLY INTIMIDATION BATMAN. Where do you begin in composing a poem or essay worthy of the woman who profoundly shaped you as a writer? How can you possibly convey in metaphors and enjambment the honor she is due? (Not to mention, how do you deal with knowing your contribution will be placed alongside a whole host of stellar others that will likely make yours look dumb?)

When I first heard about the project, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to come up with anything. Thankfully, inspiration struck just before the deadline, and while my poem won't be winning any awards, I was relatively pleased with how it turned out. At least until I saw all the other pieces...

The editors sent out a PDF copy to all contributors, but after reading the lovely preface and the first couple of pieces, I immediately ordered a hard copy of This is Just to Say: A Collection by Mary Brown's Students. The collection is wonderful. My former classmates--and those who came before and after us--are so talented! And the editors did such a great job putting it all together. I was compelled to look up and contact several people on Facebook just to say how much I enjoyed their contributions. So much powerful, poignant writing--it is a beautiful tribute to a beautiful woman. I laughed out loud, I "wow"ed out loud, I cried...I can only imagine how moving it is to her. Fun stuff.

Not gonna lie, it was also fun to see my name in print. It's been a long while since I've had that privilege. 

 

My poem, "Grayscale," was an attempt to capture the way I entered college as a very black-and-white thinker and the way Dr. Mary Brown forced me to grow--in uncomfortable but necessary ways--into a more expansive way of seeing the world. I see so much more gray now (much more even than I learned to see in college). That's not to say I don't believe in absolute truth. I do. But my capacity for empathy has grown tremendously, and I am a lot more willing to hold a lot more opinions loosely. SO many of my views have changed over the years, which means I've had to admit I was wrong before (which means I could be wrong again). It would be easier to see things as black and white, for sure--but I've had to embrace the gray as I've realized how complicated and nuanced people and events and systems are, and how limited we are in our ability to see and comprehend reality and truth. When I look back on college, I see that Mary Brown was instrumental in sowing some of the seeds of that growth.

I've been vulnerable a lot of times on this blog in the past, but for some reason, sharing my poetry makes me feel extra vulnerable. Which is probably one of the reasons I haven't posted this before now, despite the fact that it came out months ago! But...without further ado [except a quick note: if you're reading on a phone, you'll want to turn it horizontally so the narrow screen doesn't mess up the line breaks]:



Grayscale


I arrived on campus secured in stripes:
bold blacks, wide swaths of white.

She spoke, and her words were thin filaments,
the spun silk of a spider,
delicate threads holding the heaviest ideas in tension--
strong enough to suspend unbelief,
expertly woven to capture poem-ghosts.

Her green pen tap tap tapped at the weak joints
between stripes, coaxing cracks across the lines,
inserting splintering questions,
scratchy ink smoothed by the curves of her letters,
the gently piercing murmur of her words.

She tapped, until the black and the white
shattered in a terrifying
and thrilling cascade of noise and shards
tinkling onto my shoes,
a thousand million shades of gray.

I was startled to discover such a world without color.
Endless gradient in the light and shadows,
how they bounced off each other, blended into one another,
highlights and lowlights so much richer
than a stark two-toned diorama.

                                Still, I sometimes wish
for the safety of those stripes,
solid lines clearly defined,
sharp contrasts far simpler than
the contours that blur into
a dizzying gray haze.

Yet as I peer through the gray mirror, dimly,
I see the beauty in the blending of black ink and white paper
and know one day, when I see face to face,
as grayscale explodes into the entire spectrum of color,
all those shades will have prepared me
for what would never be merely black and white,
but an endless revelation of gray-turned-grace.

Fiction of 2015: Read-Alouds

It's that time of year again: an onslaught of book recommendations as readers reflect on the past twelve months and make their lists for the coming year. Some of you may really need ideas; others of you (like me) lament the hundreds of books already languishing on your "want-to-read" shelf at Goodreads. Either way, I'm happy to share what I enjoyed and didn't this last year. It's so much fun when my friends pick up and fall in love with books I recommended!

Because I count all the chapter books I read with my boys, my list gets lengthy, so this will be the first of four posts: read-alouds today, then grown-up novels, then two posts' worth of nonfiction.

We made our way through recommended favorites from friends and "best books" lists, plus a few classics/throwbacks to my childhood and a couple of follow-ups from authors we love. The unmatched top of the list definitely goes to The Warden and the Wolf King, Andrew Peterson's epic conclusion to his Wingfeather Saga. I recommend this series to everyone I know. You have to give it through book two, because the over-the-top quirky humor in book one calms down quite a bit and it takes a while to get the sense of the scope of the story he's telling. But oh, what a story. We will revisit these for years to come.

I think I'll break with  my usual pattern of listing them in reading order and instead organize them by ratings, with our favorites first and the duds at the end.

My rating system:

***** Loved it, would definitely read again

**** Liked it, would recommend

*** It was OK

** Didn't really like it

* Hated it

The Warden and the Wolf King - Andrew Peterson*****
I think the best way I can sum this up is to quote a line from one of the last chapters (no spoilers): "What [Andrew Peterson] did was magnificent." An epic finish to a series that goes on my all-time favorites list, one I will return to again and again. Albert Camus once said, "Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth." That's exactly what AP does in this series: he is a brilliant storyteller who uses a grand and thrilling made-up tale to entertain, to inspire, and to reveal deeper truths in beautiful, glorious ways. Cannot recommend highly enough.

James Herriot's Treasury for Children - James Herriot*****
I'd been hearing good things about this for a long time; I finally got my hands on a used copy and my 4yo and I both loved it. A collection of about eight charming stories about ordinary animals (sheep, dogs, cats, horses) written by a country vet. Sweet stories and lovely illustrations. A keeper for our shelves.

The Water Horse - Dick King-Smith****
A sweet little read-aloud about the origins of the Loch Ness Monster. Relatively short, charming story; kept my boys' interest and mine too. 

Paddington on Top - Michael Bond***(*)
I'd probably give this 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up. It was a fun little book. My almost-5yo and I enjoyed reading it after falling in love with Paddington in the first book. I didn't realize there were so many more books about this sweet, mischievous bear.  

Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren****
Full of ridiculous, nonsensical whimsy, but fun.

How to Train Your Dragon - Cressida Cowell***
My boys really enjoyed this, but it was not my favorite read-aloud. I didn't *dislike* it--just not really my style. I'm also surprised that the movie was given the same title and promoted as "based on" this book, because they bear almost NO resemblance other than the setting and the characters' names. The dragons and their relationships to humans are wildly different and the plot is not remotely close. It's a wholly different premise and story. This is apparently a whole series, and I can see my boys getting into them on their own, but I probably won't read any more to them, and they won't be ready to read them for themselves for another couple of years (just because of the vocabulary level). 

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo***
An intriguing, unusual story with gorgeous illustrations...but I seem to recall finding the ending a bit unsatisfying, and it generally just wasn't a favorite. 

The Charlatan's Boy - Jonathan Rogers***
This was pretty dark and heavy. A bit much for my kids at their ages and not particularly enjoyable for me. 

The Chalk Box Kid - Clyde Robert Bulla***
This was a quick read, and maybe would have been better to just let my 8yo read on his own. It was OK, not particularly amazing, but not bad. We finished it in just two sittings; the chapters are short and the vocabulary simple. 

Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie***
Another of those classics I had never actually read. I'm amazed that my 8yo hung with it, but he definitely did and seemed to enjoy it. Pretty sure the vast majority of it went over the 4yo's head, based on the questions he was asking in the last chapter. The language was difficult and I felt like even I had a hard time following at points. Definitely not a favorite, especially not for read-aloud. 

Treasure Island (Junior Classics for Young Readers) - Robert Louis Stevenson/Nancy Fletcher-Blume***
Not having read the original, I can't speak to how faithful an adaptation/abridgment this is, but we liked it well enough. It was definitely more accessible at this level (with illustrations as well). It did make me curious to read the full version, but in reality, there are too many other books on my list so I probably never will. 

Two Times the Fun - Beverly Cleary**
Having loved the Ramona books, I had high expectations for this and was very disappointed. The stories were repetitive, simplistic, and boring. I feel like they were on the level of a beginning reader...but what 6-7 year old beginning reader wants to read simple, relatively pointless stories about four-year-olds?

 
The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter - Beatrix Potter**
To say I didn't like Beatrix Potter feels about as sacrilegious as saying I didn't like Winnie the Pooh...but there you have it. We abandoned it 2/3 through because it was hopelessly overdue at the library, and I confess the *only* reason we checked it back out and finished it later was so I could count it in this year's book total and not have wasted all the time we spent getting through the first 280 pages. I found most of the stories tiresome, especially the long ones; I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about. 

Hello, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle - Betty MacDonald**
I have NO IDEA why these are popular or why I remember enjoying them as a kid. So formulaic and pointless. The children are insufferable, the parents ridiculous, and you get no insight whatsoever into the character of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Granted, this wasn't the first in the series as I originally thought, so maybe that one is better--but this one doesn't motivate me to pick up any others in the series.


What read-alouds have you and your kids enjoyed that we should check out in 2016?

Nonfiction of 2014 (Part 2 of 2)

Continuing from yesterday, a look back over the rest of the nonfiction books I read in 2014. Again, my rating system:

***** Loved it, would definitely read again

**** Liked it, would recommend

*** It was OK

** Didn't really like it

* Hated it


Surprised by Motherhood: Everything I Never Expected About Being a Mom - Lisa-Jo Baker****
Really lovely. At least 4.5 stars--maybe even 5. I copied down lots of stirring, poignant quotes from this memoir.

Made for More: An Invitation to Live in God's Image - Hannah Anderson****
Excellent, timely, important. Full review here.

Strength in What Remains - Tracy Kidder (audiobook)*****
Incredible story about an incredible man. I've read several books about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, but had no idea what was going on in Burundi during the same time frame. I spent most of the book listening with eyes wide, shaking my head in horror as I learned about a Burundian medical student named Deo and his journey through the killing, his arrival in New York and his struggles to establish a life there. His resilience, hope, courage, perseverance and commitment to help the poor in his home country are stunning.

Coming of Age in Mississippi - Anne Moody****
I don't know that I can really say I *enjoyed* this autobiography. But it definitely held my attention, and I think it is an important and powerful book, a firsthand personal perspective from the civil rights movement. The tone is very blunt and very angry--often despairing, yet incredibly courageous. Once upon a time, I would have found the blunt anger very off-putting...I count it as a sign of grace and growth that as I read, I was less turned off by her anger and more empathetic: "If I'd been through what she went through, I imagine I'd feel that way and see the world that way, too."

Jesus on Every Page: 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament - David Murray****
This is the type of book that needs to be read in small chunks, with pen in hand, and revisited repeatedly. It is an accessible and reader-friendly guide to reading Scripture from a Christ-centered perspective, but it's so dense with lists and sub-points that I found it hard to retain the information. The first half is a compelling apologetic for reading Scripture this way, as the author leads you through his own process of learning and paradigm-shifting. In the second half, he'll repeatedly blow your mind as he helps you see Christ in places you never thought about before.

Eight Twenty Eight: When Love Didn't Give Up - Larissa Murphy***
I've been blown away over the years by Larissa's heart, her quiet but strong faith in God's goodness in the midst of profound tragedy. If you've not seen this brief film about Ian and Larissa's amazing story, definitely check it out--ten minutes well spent. I will say, however, that I did not love the book as much as other, shorter articles I've read from her. Still, it was challenging and inspiring.

Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way - Shauna Niequist****
Shauna Niequist has a lovely way with words. I underlined passage after passage as she used fresh metaphors and captured familiar feelings/experiences just exactly so. Some of the passages were exquisite. I like the style of her books quite a bit--a collection of related but mostly stand-alone essays, easy to dip in and out of. I enjoyed this one more than Cold Tangerines.

Encounters with Jesus: Unexpected Answers to Life's Biggest Questions - Timothy Keller*****
This was, as I expect from Keller, wonderful. A combination of compelling apologetic-type arguments (which he is so good at offering in such a disarming way) and moving, worshipful explorations of familiar Bible stories. 

The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent - John Piper****
A great little Advent devotional--the readings were short, but substantial. Lots of fuel for hope and trust in the Lord.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration - Isabel Wilkerson*****
Epic indeed. I believe this should be required reading for high school or college American history classes. It gets a bit repetitive, but not enough to bother me much. Wilkerson explains and explores the period between 1915-1970 when blacks left the South in droves and relocated in Northern and Western cities. Her approach to this massive undertaking is unique and compelling. First, she tells the life stories of three people who left three parts of the South for the top three destination cities in three different decades. So the book is essentially three complete biographies, with vividly detailed narratives and fascinating comparisons/contrasts between the three. Interwoven with all this are statistics, sociological research and broader/more public narratives that fill out the bigger picture, giving the reader a better sense of the scope and significance of the migration. I don't know when I've done so much highlighting in a narrative nonfiction history. So much of what I read seemed so important, and was so well told.

Extravagant Grace: God's Glory Displayed in Our Weakness - Barbara Duguid
If the measure of a book is how much it makes you think, how much underlining and starring and scribbling in the margins you do...then this is five stars for sure. It took me six months to get through it because I felt I needed to answer the questions at the end of each chapter, and consider the arguments carefully.

I found so much of this to be rich and helpful. But reading it was also angst-producing, because never before have I read a book that simultaneously resonated so deeply with my experience, yet also left me skeptical of its handling of Scripture. I still can't decide whether my significant concerns and reservations are stemming from the fact that the author has pinpointed my own weaknesses and it is the message I most need to hear but find difficult to rest in, or whether my disagreements are legitimate because I am discerning sketchy theology. At this point I don't think I can recommend it without significant disclaimers/cautions...yet I am not ready to dismiss it for all the value mixed in with the questionable. 

Maude - Donna Mabry****
Whew. It is kind of hard to believe that one person's life could be so very tragic. This gripped me from the opening pages, and held my attention to the end, but the longer it went on, the more painful it got. I wasn't entirely sure whether to feel only overwhelmingly sorry for Maude, or whether to also question her perspective and call her to account for some of the pain that she undoubtedly brought on herself. A fascinating exploration of a real and flawed person whose life seemed almost too terrible to be true, yet held deep joys as well. Worth 99 cents for the Kindle version, at any rate.

Abandoned:
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas - Ann Voskamp**
I really, really hate to give this a negative review. But it just did not work for our family at all. Full review here.

Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically - John Snyder
Our church did this study at the beginning of last year, with videos during Sunday school and a workbook to complete throughout the week. Some of my friends found it to be incredibly edifying; some have gone through it multiple times. Steve and I both chose not to finish it. It just was not the right thing for me in that season, and about halfway through, I finally gave myself permission to stop. It was a relief to resume my own studies in the Word, which I had been previously enjoying, rather than forcing myself to slog through this and feel beat up every morning. As I said, I know several people who think it is just the best study ever; I simply did not care for Snyder's tone/style.

The rest of my 2014 reviews and recommendations:
Fiction: Read-Alouds
Fiction
Nonfiction Part 1

Comment below with your best-of-2014 nonfiction recommendation!

Nonfiction of 2014 (Part 1 of 2)

Looking back over the year, two nonfiction books rise to the top of my list. The first is Destiny of the Republic, a narrative nonfiction history book that gripped me and left me recommending it to every reader I know (and every one of my friends who has read it has loved it as well!).

The second is The Warmth of Other Suns, an epic history of race in the 20th century United States and an exploration of the lives of three black Americans who lived and left the South during the Great Migration. I read many, many wonderful nonfiction books this year, but these two in particular stand out from the rest.

Here's a rundown of the rest--first half today, second half tomorrow. 

My rating system:

***** Loved it, would definitely read again

**** Liked it, would recommend

*** It was OK

** Didn't really like it

* Hated it


Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life - Cloud & Townsend***
I admit I was highly skeptical of this book for years, but once I finally gave it a chance, I actually found much of it to be solid and helpful. However, it was often rooted in man-centered perspectives and fell short of the glorious truths about God and the human heart I have gleaned from places like the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. As Ed Welch argues, I think the "boundaries" metaphor is *a* helpful metaphor, but should not be *the* central, driving paradigm for a Christian's relationships. Toward the end of the book, I felt incredibly appalled by and angry with the authors'  distortion of/disregard for the gospel--to the point where it nearly negated every other good thing they had said. I'd recommend it, but with caveats.


Death by Living: Life is Meant to Be Spent - N.D. Wilson****
Many stirring quotes and a challenging push to live well before you die. The author's unflinching stare at mortality and his celebration of life in the midst of the dying is poignant; his tributes to his deceased grandparents are especially beautiful. Still, I didn't love this one as much as Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Anything: The Prayer that Unlocked My God and My Soul - Jennie Allen****
So much of this resonated deeply with me. I love Jennie Allen's passionate, surrendered heart. Challenged, inspired, moved to reorient myself and seek God's face. 


The Mistress's Daughter - A.M. Homes (audiobook)****
An adoption memoir (from the perspective of the adoptee) that was dark and depressing, but incredibly well-written and worthwhile. It ended on a much better note than I anticipated.

The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home - Carolyn McCulley****
Refreshing, disarming, wise and winsome. Yet also a bit contradictory or disingenuous at times. The historical analysis of women and work was incredibly helpful; the chapter(s) specific to my age/season of life were less helpful. 

Summer at Tiffany - Marjorie Hart**
Pure fluff beach book. Given my NYC obsession, I thought I'd love this memoir about a summer spent there, but it was just OK. It's a quick read, not much depth or substance, but still charming (probably 2.5 stars). It reads like a grandmother telling her grandchildren stories of an adventurous summer she spent in Manhattan in 1945, casting a rosy glow over her memories. It really isn't that I disliked it. I just felt like the time I spent reading it could have been spent on many more worthwhile books.

Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences - Leonard Sax***
Mixed feelings on this one. It frequently surprised me how he would seem almost to play into gender stereotypes, only to turn around and argue against them (which strengthened his case, I think). Some parts, like the discipline section, were a bit maddening; he comes off as pretty arrogant and know-it-all at times. But a lot of it was really helpful. What frustrates me is that his main solution to everything is gender-segregated schools. I agree that seems ideal in a lot of ways, but it also feels so farfetched and unrealistic in the deeply-entrenched system of education today. So...what then?

Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch - Sally Bedell Smith (audiobook)****
Fascinating, though I might have found this LONG book a bit tedious if I hadn't been listening at 2x speed. I'm more ardently anti-royalist than ever, though paradoxically, I find the royal family completely fascinating. Full review here.

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President - Candice Millard (audiobook)*****
This is exactly my favorite kind of nonfiction--where all kinds of seemingly-unrelated topics converge in one expertly-written narrative. I fell in love with President Garfield, got irrationally angry with Dr. D.W. "Ignorance Is" Bliss, shook my head in wide-eyed disbelief at delusional Charles Guiteau, and clapped my hand over my mouth as my stomach turned at the descriptions of how medicine was practiced in the 1870s (the details are not for the faint of heart). I blew through this in about four days, captivated in suspense even though I knew how it turned out in the end. And I still feel upset that Garfield's presidency was cut short. What an incredible man. 

Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity - Jen Hatmaker****
I just love Jen Hatmaker. This was powerful and convicting, though it's not a good book to read alone--it needs to be read, discussed and applied in community. Full review here. 

Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds - Jen Wilkin****
This is an excellent, accessible book for anyone (though a few parts are specific to women, I've no doubt men could benefit, too) new to studying the Bible for themselves and wanting some guidance and help. The chapter at the end with wisdom and tips specifically for teachers was wonderful, packed with insightful advice. Jen's style is likeable and her passion for seeing women dig into the Bible in order to love the God it reveals is evident throughout. I pray that this book will be widely read in order that God may develop in our generation countless women who are able and eager to feed themselves on Scripture.

The Message New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs - Eugene Peterson
Certainly shouldn't be your primary/only Scripture intake, but I find it quite helpful for fresh and challenging perspectives on overly familiar texts. 

Bossypants - Tina Fey (audiobook)**
I expected to laugh out loud a ton, but really didn't--it was frequently amusing, but not bellyache-inducing hilarious. More often merely shocking--she is just. so. crass.


Stay tuned for the second half of the nonfiction list. Meanwhile, what were your favorite nonfiction books from 2014?

Fiction of 2014: Grown-Up Novels

Besides all the read-alouds, I did make it through some grown-up novels last year. My favorites were The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd and Room by Emma Donoghue.

Here's the detailed rundown. My rating system:

***** Loved it, would definitely read again

**** Liked it, would recommend

*** It was OK

** Didn't really like it

* Hated it


The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman***/****
The story hooked me from page 1 and I was captivated throughout, not wanting to put it down and staying up late to finish, in tears at the end. Carefully crafted, provocative, suspenseful; I really did not know how it was all going to turn out, and wasn't even sure how I *wanted* it to turn out, honestly. That said, when I closed the book, I didn't quite have that satisfied, "I'm so sad to be done reading that book; what a great story" feeling. In the end, I wasn't convinced that some of the main characters' choices were believable. Not that they *couldn't* have been--but that the author didn't get me there adequately. I also found the style a bit annoying at times. She kept switching back and forth between past and present tense--not shifting between different time periods (I don't mind that if it's well done, a la Kate Morton) but switching abruptly from present to past in the same section, on the same page. It was just odd and distracting.

Still, lots of food for thought about sticky, complex issues: adoption, parenting, marriage, truth, loss, etc. Money quote that sums up the whole book: "He struggles to make sense of it--all this love, so bent out of shape, refracted, like light through the lens."

The Girl Who Chased the Moon - Sarah Addison Allen (audiobook)**
A mildly entertaining way to pass the time while in the car or exercising, but pure fluff. It had a sex scene and some glorification of immorality which disappointed me. Also, apparently the book falls into a genre called "magical realism" which I now know I don't particularly care for. Give me magic (Harry Potter) or give me realism, not some strange blend of both. 

The Kitchen House - Kathleen Grissom****
A gripping historical novel about race, class and slavery in the late 1700s. It was heart-wrenching and horrifying, and the ending didn't quite satisfy me, but a very worthwhile book nonetheless. 

Sycamore Row - John Grisham**
Meh. I still think Grisham has lost his touch. Either my taste was wildly different 15-20 years ago and the books I thought were so great actually weren't...or he has never since matched what he did in his first four novels (A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Client and The Pelican Brief). I gave him another chance when I found out this was about some of the beloved characters from A Time to Kill, but Jake Brigance and the other familiar characters, as well as some interesting new ones, weren't enough to carry a mediocre plot. I thought this one was anticlimactic.

Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay (audiobook)**
This started off so promising, so compelling. But the longer it went on the more impatient I was for it to be over (and that's coming from someone who listened to it at 2x speed!). It dragged out much further than necessary and the ending was anticlimactic and fairly predictable (and I'm not one to usually say that). A couple of the characters seemed to me unbelievable and/or utterly unsympathetic to the point of being barely human.

Hannah Coulter - Wendell Berry (audiobook)****/*****
This is the first of Wendell Berry I've read (OK, listened to)--and I'm stunned that a man could write an elderly woman's voice so authentically (an elderly woman who has experienced WWII grief and loss, no less!). Really lovely, poignant writing, and the story was rich, full of timeless truth (if somewhat depressing). I enjoyed the audio version, but suspect I could have better savored the writing if I'd been reading it instead. 4.5 stars. 

The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd****/*****
A gripping, powerful story based on the life of a real woman who fought against slavery in the early nineteenth century. Loved it. 

Room - Emma Donoghue*****
Intensely captivating. The five-year-old narrator voice is powerful. And I don't know when a book has actually made my heart RACE like this one did. Whew.

Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton (audiobook)
I should not have blown through this at 2x speed over the course of several weeks--it is more rich, nuanced literature and needed to be read more carefully, thoughtfully. Still, powerful and wrenching.


Abandoned novels:
Little Dorrit - Charles Dickens
I made it a quarter of the way through this one and struggled with the decision to abandon. I remember how awesome the last third of A Tale of Two Cities was, and I loved David Copperfield and Bleak House. But I kept putting this aside for other more captivating books and then totally losing track of who everyone was (and still hadn't even figured out why they all matter). Dickens, why must you be so difficult to love and yet so lovable? I might give this one another try this year, but I'll definitely have to check out the Cliffs Notes on the first 25% of the book.

Coming Home - Rosamunde Pilcher
The first hundred pages of this were enjoyable enough. But at 752 pages, it felt like such a massive commitment. Ultimately I just wasn't convinced it was worth it to devote my time to this one book rather than three other books I could read in the same time. 

Your turn--what was the best novel you read in 2014?