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A Grief Observed by CS Lewis

March 26, 2024November 13, 2014 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: An image of what grief may be like.

A Grief Observed is one of those books that I have felt like I needed to read but have not wanted to read. I have not suffered a great loss, whether as a parent, spouse, or child. And so reading about another’s loss seems somehow voyeuristic or at least intruding.

But I bought the Kindle edition a few weeks ago when it was on sale, and I ended up listening to the audiobook (read by Lewis’s stepson Douglas Gresham) because it was part of the Scribd subscription library.

After reading the disappointing Lunch With Lewis, I wanted to read Lewis himself.

A Grief Observed is short, only 68 pages on Kindle and less than 2 hours of audio, including introductions from both Madeleine L’Engle and Douglas Gresham.

In the text, Lewis says he limited himself to four notebooks that he found around the house because if he did not arbitrarily have a limit, there would be no limit to the end of grief (and he wasn’t going to go out and buy more to prolong his writing).

I can see why so many have found this book so comforting while others do not. Lewis is particular. He honestly cries out to God and laments but also looks inside himself for the root and reality of his grief (and hope.) He is also intellectual and deals with the intellectual issues around faith and grief that will not apply to many potential readers.

An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor

November 13, 2014 by Adam Shields

Summary: Finding spiritual practices for those that have become dead to spiritual practices.

One of the problems for me in loving Amazon and enjoying book reviews, is that there is always five recommendations for every book that I actually read. The more I read, the more I see that I want to read. One of those authors that has been on my radar for a while is Barbara Brown Taylor. A number of my “˜reading friends’ rate her very highly.

Barbara Brown Taylor is a former Episcopal priest, turned professor. It is hard not compare her writing style and voice to Anne Lamott. They both are around the same age, female, and disgruntled with a church that they still feel drawn to and love in spite of themselves. Their memoir-y writing styles are not completely different.

An Altar in the World is semi-autobiographical, but it is less memoir than recounting what it is like to find spiritual practices outside the church that connect us with God. Parts of this were very good. But parts of it just seemed a stretch for me. I have been interested in finding God through the spiritual practices within the church, the historic ones that have not been a part of my Christian journey. Mostly this book is about finding God in the every day and ordinary.

If I Had Lunch with CS Lewis: Exploring the Ideas of CS Lewis on the Meaning of Life by Alister McGrath

November 11, 2014 by Adam Shields

Summary: McGrath tries to imagine what type of advice Lewis would give, if you had lunch over 8 weeks.

McGrath has written one of the two or three best biographies of CS Lewis, so in my ongoing quest to read more and more by or about Lewis, I was eager to pick up McGrath’s newest book, Lunch With Lewis, especially since it was free on Kindle and the audiobook part of my free trial of Scribd.

The preface laid out exactly I was looking for, Lewis is the type of person that many people would say they would like to have lunch with out of a host of historical characters. And so McGrath wanted to imagine what type of things Lewis would talk about and what type of wisdom we could gain if we did have lunch with him. So McGrath set out 8 weeks of lunches, and a chapter for each.

The problem is that the actual book did not live up to the promise. Instead most of the chapters were more lecture, biography or book report. The first chapter is on the meaning of life. The second was on friendship (which was mostly about Tolkien and the Inklings.) The third was on the importance of stories in shaping our life and meaning (with significant overlap from the first chapter.) The fourth chapter was on Aslan and how he was and was not Christ. And it continued on, apologetics, education, the problem of pain, heaven and hope.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

October 29, 2014 by Adam Shields

Summary: The children’s classic story about running away, living in a museum and solving a great mystery all the while finding the important things in life.

Children’s books are great for adults to read occasionally. In addition, to just being a change of pace, I find that the simple straight forward stories get to the essence of so many things. Children’s book don’t have to have multi-layered plots with anti-heroes or twists and turns.

Instead children’s books tell simple stories that often do a great job of getting to root meanings of life.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler is one of the classics that I think has held up fairly well. Claudia, a 12 year-old oldest child that feels like she is underappreciated by her parents and decides to run away. Her younger brother, Jamie, comes with her mostly for the adventure. Most kids would identify with one or both of these reasons for running away.

For Calvinism by Michael Horton

October 27, 2014 by Adam Shields

Reposting this 2011 review because the Kindle Edition is on sale for $2.99 Summary: A moderate Calvinism explained. One of the comments on the review of Against Calvinism, objected to the title. I noted in the review that Olson was not objecting to Calvinism as a whole, but particular extremes within Calvinism. Well Michael Horton, … Read more

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

February 15, 2024October 24, 2014 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: The classic 1973 book, which was made into the 1987 movie, is still worth reading.

Like most of my generation and later, I was introduced to the movie before the book. The book was written the year I was born. And the movie came out when I was 14. So, the characters have always been the movie characters in my head.

I first read the book pretty soon after the movie came out. I expected a movie novelization, but while the movie was closely based on the book, it was clearly not a novelization. I remember it as a book where I literally laughed out loud often at the time.

I have not read it since but have maintained my appreciation of the book and movie. I usually watch at least a few minutes of the movie every time I notice it is on TV.

I do not always want to re-read books that I have fond memories of. I have re-read too many books that do not hold up on a second or third reading, a decade or two later. That is probably true here, although I still really enjoyed the book (it just felt a bit too long.)

The book jokes that it is an abridgment of a classic novel and William Goldman puts himself into the book and makes lots of comments about why he is abridging a section. But also the “˜original author’ S Morgenstern also is continually making aside comments as well.

The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick

October 23, 2014 by Adam Shields

Summary: A 38 year old man (maybe on the Autism spectrum?) learns to cope with his Mother’s death by writing letters to Richard Gere.

Mental Illness is serious, which is why I think it is so important that Matthew Quick has made a career of writing good, usually funny books about it. The three books I have read all follow roughly the same method.

They are all first person narrative told entirely inside the head of the protagonist. They all have some wacky other characters and come to a sort of resolution without minimizing the real issues of mental illness. They all have characters that want to help one another and are generally likable. (Note: I know that Autism is not really a mental illness, but Quick is mixing it in as if it were. There are also three other characters that more clearly have mental health issues that are also a part of the book.)

In the Good Luck of Right Now, Bartholomew Neal is writing to Richard Gere. Bartholomew’s mother has just recently died of brain cancer. As part of her cancer’s effects, his mother thought that Bartholomew was Richard Gere, her favorite actor. So Bartholomew played along and is now confessing to Gere, seeking his advice and looking for a friend.

Your Church Is Too Small by John Armstrong (Part 1: Introduction)

October 20, 2014 by Adam Shields

I am reposting this 2010 review (yes it is a nearly 2100 hundred word review that I posted in 3 parts) because the Kindle Edition is on sale for $4.99. I believe that this is part of Zondervan’s general ebook sale that still has not been announced anywhere and don’t have have an end date. Part two of the review is here and part three here.

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After having read Your Church is Too Small I immediately thought of four people that need to read the book. So the summary review is that I think the book is good enough that I have bought and sent the book to four friends and bought one more to give away here.

After I was about half way through the book I decided that there is just too much rich content to comment on in just one blog post. So I am breaking tradition and I am breaking this post into three parts. Part 2 will post on Saturday and Part 3 on Sunday and I will restart the normal schedule on Monday.

Having read John Armstrong’s blog regularly for the past several years, I can think of few others that would have been better to write Your Church is Too Small. The basic thesis is that only the “…church of Jesus Christ, ministering out of its spiritual unity in Christ and rooted in core orthodoxy, can best serve Christ’s mission.”

Armstrong loves the church and throughout the book reminds us that we should not fear for the church, because it is not our job to build and maintain the church but Christ’s and the Holy Spirit’s. However, like our faith, we are saved by grace and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, but we still have responsibility for participating in our own spiritual growth. Armstrong suggests that the unity the Jesus prayed for in John 17 cannot just be an invisible, spiritual unity, but must be a relational. So while the church is one spiritually, there is a role for our participation in drawing the church together in unity. I think this is an important point. Just like James (2:17-18) tells us that we should not tell someone that we will pray for them, but not actually do anything to help them, we should not talk about the Big C Church and do nothing to build relationships with those outside our stream of faith.

All In by Mark Batterson

October 20, 2014 by All Old Users

“œIf Jesus is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all” In a concise and ease to understand approach, Batterson challenges the reader to perform a self-examination and discover what they are holding onto more firmly than Jesus. He points out that we are either following him completely or inviting him to … Read more

Pure Pleasure: Why Do Christians Feel So Bad about Feeling Good? by Gary L. Thomas

October 19, 2014 by Adam Shields

I am reposting this 2010 review because the Kindle Edition is on sale for $2.99 (along with the also reviewed Sacred Pathways and Sacred Marriage).

Takeaway: God has created pleasure, we should not feel bad when we enjoy what he has created.

I have been puttering through this book for about eight weeks now. I started it, read a few chapters, then got distracted by some other books. Then picked it back up as my pastor started a series called “Guardrails” (itunes podcast link). In some ways, Pure Pleasure is the opposite of the point of the Guardrails series. But I like to read several books together in tension. I have been reading three different books on virtue and keep stopping one to read another to keep them in conversation.

The short version of the thesis is Christians were designed as spiritual, physical people. But too often Christians reject physical pleasures as “less than” or sinful. Instead Christians should embrace both physical and spiritual pleasures as a form of worship.