Summary: A long lecture or short book on ways to prevent tyranny based on 20th-century history. I have looked at but not read On Tyranny several times. It came out about six years ago. But I decided to pick it up after a tweet from Samuel Perry about regularly rereading it and teaching it. I … Read more
Summary: A memoir primarily focusing on mental health and its connection to religious faith. I believe I have read two of Charles Marsh’s books and that I own two others. Marsh is the author of Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s biography, which I believe most people should start with. And he has written widely about social justice, especially the … Read more
Summary: A retelling of civil rights era history noting ways in which traditional framing distorts the history. I am very interested in how framing and bias can distort history. Some books I have read that have informed my perspective on this are Battle for Bonhoeffer (about how this works with an individual, not just more … Read more
Summary: James Baldwin’s chosen biographer, his friend and sometimes secretary and translator David Leeming. After reading my last Baldwin book, I knew I needed to read a complete biography before reading more of Baldwin’s writing. Previously, I have read three novels (Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni’s Room, and If Beale Street Could Talk) … Read more
Summary: A dated but well-written biography of Martin Luther King Jr. I don’t remember who suggested it, but someone, about four years ago, recommended Let the Trumpet Sounds as the best biography of Martin Luther King Jr. I picked up the Kindle edition back in early 2018 and just got around to listening to the … Read more
I have read fairly widely around various issues of race, but certainly, there are far more books that I have not read than that I have read. So a book not listed here is likely not here because I have not read it or haven’t written about them. I fully realize that this is an … Read more
I have read fairly widely around various issues of race, but certainly, there are far more books that I have not read than that I have read. So a book not listed here is likely not here because I have not read it or haven’t written about them. I fully realize that this is an … Read more
Summary: MLK’s last book. It is frequently quoted, but I wonder how much it is read. It is probably trite to comment about how Martin Luther King Jr is commonly sanitized and made safe. Books like Radical King were designed to break him out of the confines of his dream. Books like Bonhoeffer and King: … Read more
Summary: A look at how five Christians have used rhetoric to impact the church. One of my goals over the next couple of years is to think more clearly about how people’s minds are changed. I purposely say that in the passive voice, because while you can influence the changing of minds, you cannot as … Read more
2019 marks 10 years of blogging most of the books I have read. This year, like most years, I met some of my reading goals and not others. I read good books that have stuck with me and books that were less memorable. Reading Goals My main goal this year was to increase the diversity … Read more