Read Again

These reviews are based on a second (or third) reading of the book. I link to my previous review as well.

Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter

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Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our FaithSummary: Our bodies are important not just to life, but to our faith as well.

Reading book again is an under-valued exercise.  I try to re-read at least one book a month.  For many books, it is not possible to catch all of the nuances and points on a first reading.

So it has been my tradition the last couple years to, when available switch the format of my second reading.  So if I start with an audiobook, I will move to paper or kindle.  If I start with paper, I move to audio.  In this case I read it in kindle version the first time and in audio the second.  I find that there is enough different between the different formats that you get something else out of the change that is more than just re-reading in the same format.

In this case I enjoyed Earthen Vessels just as much as the first time.  Read the first review, because I am not going to deal with any of the same content on this one.

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Now You’re Speaking My Language: Honest Communication and Deeper Intimacy for a Stronger Marriage by Gary Chapman

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Now You're Speaking My Language: Honest Communication and Deeper Intimacy for a Stronger MarriageSummary: A wide ranging book on communication in marriage.

Last night we finished discussing this book in my small group.  My wife and I lead a small group through our church for newly married couples.

This is the first time we have used this book for discussion, although I read it last year.

As we evaluated the newly married curriculum last year most of the group leaders thought that the biggest weakness of the curriculum was that we did not have anything on communication.  So this book was added (and it replaced a couple other books) as the center of the curriculum.

It is not a long book only 268 pages, but it feels really long because it has 23 chapters.  Most weeks we covered 2 or 3 chapters and we took a break in the middle.

At the end my evaluation as a discussion book for a group is a little mixed.  I still think that for most newly married (and long term married for that matter) couple, communication is one of the biggest issues that we face.  And this book gives entry to many other areas because it discusses communication around them (communication around sex, spiritual intimacy, defensiveness, etc.).

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Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Read Again)

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The Hunger GamesTakeaway: Still a great book. Violence came through even more in audio format.

This is a review of the book, not the movie.

Yesterday I finished listening to Hunger Games.  This is my second run at this book. (Original Review) I like to re-read books in a different format.  So the first time I read the hardcover at the beach.  This time I listened to the audiobook.

Pretty much everyone knows the basic story by now.  Katniss chooses to participate in the Hunger Games to save her little sister.

The Hunger Games is an annual fight to the death contest that the government runs to exert its authority over the outlying provinces in a post-apocalyptic North America.

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Together in Prayer: Coming to God in Community by Andrew Wheeler

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Together in Prayer: Coming to God in CommunityTakeaway: Small group prayer is fundamentally different than individual prayer or pastoral prayers.  

Prayer is an important part of the growth of any Christian.  Small groups or community groups are a significant part of the discipleship strategy within most churches.  Unfortunately, prayer within small groups is not usually given the attention that it needs.

Prayer, more than most spiritual disciplines is something that is caught more than taught.  Most people learn to pray either as small children at bed time or by listening to pastors or other church leaders pray in large group setting.  Neither of these two styles of prayer lends itself a small group setting well.

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Read Again: Scripture and the Authority of God by NT Wright

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Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today

Takeaway: I do not know any book that takes the reading, study and importance of scripture more seriously than this book.

Normally I do not read a book so quickly after I read it the first time. But I am going backpacking next week, and the group decided to read two books in advance so we can discuss them as we are hiking.  This group of guys has been going on a trip together since spring of 1995 (17 trips total).  We are all in quite different places since we started, we have all graduated from college, completed 5 masters degrees, a PhD and an MD between the six of us.  We are all now married and have 16 children between us.  We now live outside of Chicago, Toronto, Paris, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Dallas.  We work as a nanny, a family practice doctor, a Hebrew/Old Testament professor, a missionary, a trader and a computer consultant for an HR firm.

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Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 5)Takeaway: This is one of the classics that everyone should read.

Over the past few years there has been renewed interest in Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  There is a very good documentary (available for streaming on Netflix).  Then two biographies of Bonhoeffer have been published in the last two years (I reviewed Eric Metaxas’s  and have now read but have not read the Ferdinand Schlingensiepen biography, which has been much better received in the academic world and I think is a better biography.)

Much of the interest and resources for Bonhoeffer study is a result of a new 16 volume series of Bonhoeffer’s works.  Previous, to this series that is published in English by Fortress Press, there were only limited editions of Bonhoeffer’s books that had significant translation issues.

I have purchased three of these volumes (they are not cheap, so many people are still purchasing older editions.)  The volume that includes Life Together (Bonhoeffer’s most read book) also includes his book on the Psalms (Prayerbook of the Bible).  I am not reviewing Prayerbook of the Bible here, but will later.  There is a significant amount of extra material in these books to give context and understanding to these two short books.  Life Together is only a bit over 100 pages, but page for page I think is one of the most useful books I have ever read about spiritual growth and the role of community within the church.

The book has only six chapters (Preface, Community, Day Together, Day Alone, Service, and Confession/Communion.)

One of the most useful things that I heard on this reading (I have read this at least twice previously, but not in the last 10 years) was Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the limits and strengths of community. These are two long quotes, but I think shows that Bonhoeffer is not being idealistic about his view of Christian community:

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The Pastor: A Memoir (The Audiobook Review) by Eugene Peterson

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Takeaway: On Audio, still the best general book on what it means to be a pastor I have ever read.

Purchase Links: Hardback, Kindle Edition, christianaudio.com MP3 audiobook

I read this immediately after it came out just over a month ago.  I wrote a gushing review.  Then I was asked if I wanted to review the audiobook as well.  At first I thought I would just listen to a little bit of the audiobook and rework the original review a bit.  But this is a very good book.  And ‘reading’ it twice in less than six weeks is not too much.

Eugene Peterson reads the introduction and afterward himself.  So you get a sense of his own voice.  But it is narrated by Arthur Morey.  His voice is not the same as Peterson, but his reading understands the nature of the book.  As with many good narrators you forget the narration and hear the voice of the author, as the authors intends you to hear.

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Read Again: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney – Bible Intake

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Takeaway for this chapter: If we are serious about our Christianity we must be intentional about scripture intake.  Reading is good, but we also need to think about and put what we read into practice. Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook, christianaudio.com MP3 Audiobook I have been slowly working through Spiritual Disciplines for the … Read more

A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller – A Second Look

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Takeaway: “Until you are convinced that you can’t change your child’s heart, you will not take prayer seriously.” This is the first of my “Read Again” posts.  I read quickly and I read a lot.  Which does not alway lend itself to actually putting into practice what I am learning when I read.  So I am … Read more