Book Reviews

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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Summary: An impassioned letter from an African American father to his 15 year old son.

Between the World and Me deserves all of its praise. It will be on virtually every ‘Best of 2015′ book list. I need some space, but I would like to read it again before the end of the year.

This is not an easy book to read. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by Coates. All of the passion and pain of the book carries through. However, this book of passion and pain and not easy to take.

Coates formats the book as a letter to his 15 year old son on the occasion of his disappointment that Darren Wilson would not be indited or face trial for the shooting of Michael Brown. The book recounts Coates’ life and place in the world as an African American man.

Overwhelmingly it is about his concern for how his son will live, how Coates will not be able to protect him from the pain of life that is unfairly biased against him.

The book is roughly divided into three sections. The first is about the “˜plunder’. The systemic loss of safety and autonomy that Coates, and all African Americans, face because of results of racist institutions. This section also tells the story of Coates own growing up years where he learned to navigate his way through his isolating urban streets.

The second section is about his coming of age at Howard University and how he was “˜made for the library and not the classroom’. His eyes were widened as he learned about others and their different backgrounds and world. He met his wife and they married and had their son and moved to New York. But also how he was frustrated with what his learning revealed.

The third section was about the killing of his friend from Howard University, Prince Carmen Jones, by a cop in 2000. Jones was an engineering student, the son of a highly respected doctor. The cop, who was black, was undercover, and pursuing a 5 ft 4, 250 lb suspect. He mistakenly identified Jones, a 6 ft 3, 210 lbs, as the suspect. He and his partner, in separate unmarked cars followed Jones across two state lines for 16 miles without pulling him over.

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The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity by Philip Jenkins

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Summary: A data heavy look at the state of Christianity around the world.

Earlier this year I read Philip Jenkins’ Lost History of Christianity. Jenkins was writing about the strength of the early church in Asia and Africa. That early church was stronger than in Europe and while it is only a remnant now, it survived under significant persecution for generations.

The Lost History of Christianity is actually a follow up to the original Next Christendom. Originally written in 2002 and then updated in 2006 and again in 2011, Jenkins is trying to help the western church understand the vast shift in Christianity to the Global South.

Jenkins is a helpful reminder to a US Evangelical Christianity that often is ignorant of the global church. But Jenkins is also a researcher that primarily uses demographic statistics, so that number heavy research can be a bit dull. There is also a bit of overlap in content, especially early in this book, with the Lost History of Christianity, as Jenkins is trying to set the stage for presenting the church in Asia and Africa as not new, but revitalized.

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Paper Towns by John Green

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I am reposting this review because the Kindle Edition sale for $0.99 and the movie released today.

Paper TownsSummary: A troubled girl goes missing.  And no one seems to care all that much except for Quentin, her long time friend and next door neighbor.

This is my third straight coming of age novel.  And it is still somewhat surprising how different a single sub-genre can be. An Abundance of Katherines was about finding purpose and meaning in life (and ended up finding that living life was its own purpose.)  Wizard of Earthsea was about humility and realizing your own weakness is part of your strength; and facing yourself can be the hardest battle.  Paper Towns is about what it means to be human amidst community.

Quentin (so glad I have another Quentin to associate with the name other than the one from the Magician and the Magician King), is about to graduate from High School.  He is a good student, loved by his two psychologist parents, has a good set of friends and is looking forward to college.  He may not be exciting, but he is reliable and normal.

His next door neighbor Margo is not.  She is popular, the center of attention, but prone to wild pranks and occasionally running away.  Margo and Quentin have been friends from early childhood.  When they were 10 they found a man that had committed suicide in the park.  That single event, while not really all that important, creates ripples that really drive the rest of the story.

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Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

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I am reposting this 2013 review because Audible.com is having a sale on all of Mary Roach’s books. Each of the books is on sale for $4.95.  Bookwi.se has also reviewed Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and has read (but not reviewed here) Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science.  Sale runs until July 23, 2015.

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary CanalSummary: The cool, gross and the ugly of our digestive system.

Mary Roach is a unique writer.  I think her closest comparison is Sarah Vowell.  Where Sarah Vowell writes in a unique way about random historical matters, Mary Roach writes in a unique way about science issues.  This is my third book by Mary Roach.  The first book I read was the best, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, because well, who isn’t interested in sex?

The second book, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers was also interesting, but frankly cadavers are a bit disconcerting.  It veered wildly between gross and fascinating.

In a slightly less disgusting way, Gulp covers pretty much everything you wanted to know, and a number of things you may not wanted to know about the Alimentary Canal (or digestive system).

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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

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I am reposting this 2013 review because the Kindle Edition is on sale for $1.99.
The Graveyard Book by Neil GaimanTakeaway: All of life is about growing up.

I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman.  I think he is one of the most innovative writers around.  And I love that he concentrates mostly on fairy tale stories, whether for adults or kids.  Many of them are a bit creepy and a little twisted, but at heart they are fairy tales.

The Graveyard Book is the only one of Gaiman’s full length books that I have not previously read.  It is intended as a young adult book.  Not as young as Coraline, but still appropriate for middle grade and up, if the kids enjoy and can handle creepy and dark stories. (I say this as a person that in general hates creepy stories.)

The book opens with murder. A family is murdered, mother, father, sister.  But the baby, about 18 months old, crawls out of the crib and walks away before the killer finds him.  The family lives near a graveyard and the baby walks there.  The ghosts see he is in trouble, hide him from the killer and agree to raise him there in the graveyard.  He is given the freedom of the graveyard.  So he can talk to and learn from the ghosts.  He can move through the walls and into the crypts.  He is taught to Fade and produce fear.  And he learns about some of the darker and older things that are in the graveyard.

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The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling by John Stott

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The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling by John StottTakeaway: Discipleship is about following Christ in non-conformity.  Hearing from an elder who has lived the life is a great encouragement to continue on.

This is John Stott‘s last book.  He decided to retire several years ago and now has said he will no longer write (update: he passed away in 2011 at the age of 90).  So I think it is interesting that he is intentionally writing a book about discipleship and concentrating on areas that he thinks are often left unaddressed.

The book ends with a poignant chapter on death, similar to the last album by Johnny Cash.  Both Cash and Stott knew they were not long for this world.  The afterward says goodbye to the reader and discusses his will and legacy. In many ways, I wish he opened with this.  Because it gives more weight to the rest of the book.

However, if he started with death it might overwhelm the general theme of the book, Non-Conformity.  The title of the first chapter, he is calling us to be different as Christians.  Not just different from the world, but different because we were created to be like Christ. There is a good quote about the fact that we cannot live like Christ, unless we have Christ live in us. And I think that the living with Christ in us as the only way to achieve Christlikeness may be more counter cultural to the church than anything else in the book. We all know that we have transformed, but to really be transformed we not only have to strive after living like Christ, we have to submit to the Spirit that guides us.

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Dust by Hugh Howey

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Reposting this 2014 review because this book, and the two earlier collections that made up the trilogy are all on sale for $2.99 each on kindle (Wool Omnibus and Shift). Links to my reviews of the earlier books are at the bottom of the page. Summary: The story comes to an end. Hugh Howey broke into … Read more

The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus by Dallas Willard

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the allure of gentleness cover imageSummary: The method of apologetics is intrinsically linked to the work of apologetics.

I like Dallas Willard. He has been very helpful, if not always directly, through the mentoring of various other authors and teachers I have been directly impacted by.

Dallas Willard passed away just over two years ago. This book was underway before he passed as a joint project between Willard and his daughter. She organized it based on a series of lectures he gave in 1990 and supplemented it in areas he thought needed further development using other lectures and writings. Despite that, this feels like a cohesive book.

Willard is trying to remind the apologist that the method (and life of the apologist) is important to the work of apologetics. In 1990, I think that was probably a much more needed message than today. We always need to be reminded of that, but I do not think that many apologists today would disagree with that basic summary.

Even so, the part that I most resonated with was that simple reminder. (Although I kept thinking that Unapologetic did a better job communicating the point and at least parts of Vanishing Grace did a better job reminding the reader of the importance of grace toward the non-Christian. )

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Looking for Alaska by John Green

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I am reposting my 2012 review because the audiobook is today’s Audible Deal of the day and on sale (no membership required) for $2.95 today only.
Looking for Alaska

Summary: John Green’s first coming of age novel.  A high school student goes away to boarding school in Alabama and tries to find his place in the world.

I am on a John Green kick.  This is the third book in three weeks.  There is only The Fault of Our Stars until I have read all of his books. (The Fault of our Stars is on a lot of people’s best book or best teen book of 2012 lists.  There are also two more books that Green has either co-written or contributed to.)

All of Green’s books are in one way or another coming of age books.  This one is no different.  Miles leaves his home and the school where he does not really have any friends to go away to boarding school at the beginning of his junior year of high school.

As is normal, Miles ends up being best friends with his roommate and his roommates friends.  As they move through the year one event ends up dominating the year.  The whole books either counts down to it, or moves on from it.  I will not spoil the event, but I did not see it coming until it was almost there.  (I am gifted with an inability to predict what is going to happen in books.  I think that is a good feature, but my wife is always amazed I didn’t see things coming).

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