Category: Read Me Project
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The Right Kind of Nationalism?
In eighth grade, and again in 11th grade, our American History teachers, Mr. Cronk and Mr. McCreadie, had us read The Rise of the American Nation. It was blue, with George Washington on the cover. I didn’t take an American History class in college, so The Rise of the American Nation is the last systematic […]
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Re-imagining Success
By now, lots of people have learned that Randy Pausch’s book The Last Lecture is heartwarmingly inspirational. It was a bestseller for over two years, between 2008 and 2011, and still comes up in comments from time to time now. I don’t remember exactly where I heard about it myself, but in someone’s wise article […]
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Think of it as a Learning Experience
Steele, Claude M. Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do. W.W. Norton, 2010. [An installment of the “Read Me” Project.] This is not a book about race in the United States. And yet, it is not not a book about race in the United States, either. The concepts the author explores […]
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Can I Skip the Wild Heart?
Brown, Brené. Braving the Wilderness: the quest for true belonging and the courage to stand alone. Vermilion, 2017. [An installment of the “Read Me” Project.] Our congregation has been studying Braving the Wilderness together for the past several weeks, as a next step in our participation in the Golden Rule 2020 project. [We finished up […]
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Things Geographers Know
Williams, Will. Geography in Bite-Sized Chunks. Metro Books, 2017. [An installment of the “Read Me” Project.] What comes to mind when someone says “geography”? I immediately think of the hard red plastic pencil case with the map of the United States embossed on the top in scratchy white outlines, and the little wheels on either […]
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Fear, Logic, and Hiccups
Patten, Bernard M. Truth, Knowledge, or Just Plain Bull: How to Tell the Difference. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2004. [An installment of the “Read Me” Project.] I have a history with this book. I read it once before, about 10 years ago, at least part-way through, while sitting in the surgery waiting room of […]
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Knowledge Density
Grimes, Martha. The Knowledge. Grove Press, 2018. [An Installment of the “Read Me” Project.] What made me stop reading mysteries like they were candy? Aside from the advent of Netflix – which makes it possible to watch mysteries on TV like they’re candy instead of reading them, and crochet things for the next church bazaar […]
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The State of the “Read Me” Project, 2020
A couple of years ago I rashly vowed, not to God but to the internet, that I wouldn’t buy any more books until I’d read the ones I already owned. I say “rashly” because, as I’ve learned over the last two years, the acquisition of books and the reading of books are separate and distinct […]
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Help with Difficult Conversations
Stone, Douglas, Patton, Bruce, and Heen, Sheila. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. 10th Anniversary Edition. Penguin, 1999. [An Installment of the “Read Me” Project.] These reflections on Difficult Conversations are not a commentary on Christmas with the family. It’s a pure coincidence that I got Difficult Conversations on loan from one of […]
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So, Just Your Ordinary Gothic Murder Romance SciFi/Time Travel Mystery Novel, eh?
Turton, Stuart. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Sourcebooks Landmark, 2018. [An Installment of the “Read Me” Project.] This is one of those books that wind up on the stack because someone else in the house was reading it and enjoying it so much that I got curious and a little envious and said “Hey, […]
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Not the Best Argument Against Abrahamicism
Hughes, Aaron W. Abrahamic Religions: On the Uses and Abuses of History. Oxford University Press, 2012. [An Installment of the “Read Me” Project.] I agreed with this book as soon as I heard about it. According to the description on the website, the author, Aaron W. Hughes, argues that the notion of the “Abrahamic religions” […]
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Most of the World Christianity
Pachuau, Lalsangkima. World Christianity: A Historical and Theological Introduction. Abingdon Press, 2018. [An Installment of the “Read Me” Project.] Most North American Christians today don’t know enough about “world Christianity.” For that matter, most of us North American Christians have never even heard the term “world Christianity.” It’s likely to make Christians in the United […]
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How Superficial is That Oxford Comma?
Dreyer, Benjamin. Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style. Random House, 2019. [An Installment of the “Read Me” Project.] Did I even know copyediting was a thing? I did not. But I do now, thanks to this book by Benjamin Dreyer, “Copy Chief of Random House,” and also a talented author in […]
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How Jewish Was Jesus?
Levine, Amy-Jill. The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus. HarperOne, 2006. [An Installment of the “Read Me” Project.] How Jewish was Jesus? Thoroughly. If only we would stop forgetting that. If only EVERY CHRISTIAN would read this book. Barring that, if only every pastor and Christian writer would read this […]
Matters of Interpretation 