Book Reviews

Summary: A readable, recent introduction for those new to Anglicanism.

Fads are a reality of the world, Christian as well as not. In my world right now, converting to Anglicanism seems to be almost the level of a fad. Not that I think there is anything wrong with returning to a more liturgical practice of Christianity, or participating in the second largest global body of Christians. Honestly, if the Parish were on my side of town, instead of the opposite side of town, I would be seriously considering it.

Over the past couple of years as I have been reading James KA Smith (not Anglican) and gaining a greater understanding of the Liturgy (and maybe just getting older), more people in my extended digital world have been doing the same. Eddie Kirkland, former worship director at my church has started the Parish, Glenn Packiam as formed an Anglican congregation inside of New Life Community Church in Colorado, Scot McKnight has been ordained Anglican, Aaron Niequist, while not officially moving toward Anglican ordination as far as I know, has started a Sunday evening service at Willow Creek that by description seems to lean Anglican.

Personally, my theology has become much more sacramental and much less Baptist over the past 10 years or so years since I stopped working for the Southern Baptists in Chicago. I am also far less interested in arguing minor points of theology and much more interested in a Christianity at accepts all that hold to the Nicene Creed or other traditional Creeds.

So The Anglican Way is exactly right type of book for me. Thomas McKenzie is a parish pastor in Nashville (and the exact same age as I am I assume since he graduated from high school the same year I did according to one of the stories). He grew up in an Episcopal church, but was not really active until he went to college and was introduced to a charismatic form of Anglicanism.

The first section of the book is about the balance within the Anglican Way (illustrated by the Compass Rose) between Charismatic and Orthodox, Conservative and Liberal, Activist and Contemplative, Evangelical and Catholic. Temperamentally, that type of focus of relationship within theological and practical tension appeals to me. I want to be around, and worshiping with Christians, that are different from me, while still broadly holding to the orthodox tenets of Christianity.

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Summary: An introduction to the theology, but not much on the practice of Centering Prayer

If you have been reading Bookwi.se for a while you have probably noticed a couple things. One, I intentionally try to read at least one book a month from an author that is Catholic, Orthodox or other Christian tradition that I am not a part of. (I do this intentionally both to learn and get a different perspective on christianity than my own low church historically Baptist/non-denominational one.)

And second, I have mentioned several times that I am going to a Spiritual Director. Catholics and to a lesser extent, Anglicans, have kept alive this tradition of meeting with another person for intentional focus on spiritual growth. My Spiritual Director, knowing that I like to read and discuss books, suggested we talk about this book, less for its focus on Centering Prayer as a practice than for its theology of connecting with God.

Keating is a Trappist priest that is known for bringing Centering Prayer to greater use in the 1980s and 1990s.  This is a practice of meditation that is related to earlier Christian meditation, but also draws on some of the eastern meditation practices.

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Takeaway: On today’s after school special, Polly has to deal with serious things.

I love Madeleine L’Engle’s writing. She takes young adults seriously, she writes about serious issues but she makes her characters real. So I pick up every one of L’Engle’s books when they come up for sale and I intentionally don’t read anything about them prior to reading the book.

This is the third book in the Polly O’Keefe series. Polly is the daughter of Meg  and Calvin from the Wrinkle in Time series. And Zachary Gray from the Austin series is also a significant character in this book.

In the time line this book is set just after A Ring of Endless Light which I read earlier this year and about a year or so before An Acceptable Time which I read a couple years ago.

(There are spoilers in this review, but this is a book that cannot be discussed without spoilers.)

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For years many of us have struggled with trying to measure up to others standards for us and for our own. We walk around calling ourselves failures. We tell ourselves we are not smart enough, good enough, nice enough, and on and on. After spending years telling himself similar things, Michael Perkins discovered that none of those things were what God had to say about him.

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Bad Monkey is Carl Hiaasen’s latest novel that came out at the beginning of the summer of 2013. Similarly to many of Hiaasen’s novels, the book is about a rough around the edges detective who desperately wants his job back. He sets out to solve a murder that he really has no business solving. While tracking down the murderer, he observes and is a part of a number of humorous hijinks, and his life and the lives of those around him are put in danger.

Carl Hiaasen grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and has lived in Miami for most of his adult life. For this reason, his books generally take place in the state of Florida and the character of the state plays a big role in his novels. He has been a reporter for the Miami Herald since 1976, which explains why his novels also revolve around crime and the police detectives whom he has solve those crimes. Another theme that runs commonly through his novels are that the environment, specifically the wildlife and the swamps and oceans of Florida, are often exploited, destroyed and need to be protected. I would say that if Christopher Buckley is the master of the dry political comedies then Hiaasen has a corner in the dry detective comedy genre. I definitely enjoy both of these types of novels as they do an excellent job of combining two types of genres and making an intriguing new genre.

This is the second novel that I have read by Carl Hiaasen, the first being Skinny Dip. Another aspect to his novels that I thoroughly enjoy is that they are filled with unique characters and that there is no perfect protagonist. Everyone has their hang-ups and everyone has their ulterior motives. This book, Bad Monkey, is entitled so because there is a very naughty monkey (and, not naughty in the Curious George sense) that is supposedly the monkey from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie but was essentially fired because he was so difficult to work with. Through some coincidence, the monkey plays a somewhat integral part of the story and in a way helps to get the crime solved. The uniqueness of the characters in Hiaasen’s books definitely helps to keep the reader engaged.

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Reposting my 2013 review because the Kindle Edition is on sale for $2.75
Summary: SHORT, but helpful look at the essence of prayer.

I am not an Anne Lamott devotee.  So I do not read everything she writes.  But I have read enough to know that she is a very good author and one that looks at spiritual realities from a different perspective.

So one day last month I was tired of all of my audiobooks I had been listening to and looked around to find another.  I noticed that with my member discount at Audible, Help, Thanks, Wow was under $5.  So I picked it up.

I had resisted previously because it is so short.  In audiobook it is barely 90 minutes.  In paper it is listed as 112  pages.  But it must be a gift book sized pages.

However, for $5 I thought it was worth picking up.

I listened to it two days after listening to Palmer Parker’s Let Your Life Speak.  The two books, although not at all similar in subject had a similarity in spiritual direction.  Both emphasized that the Christian life is not striving after looking good or being respectable.

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