books in july

The Pilgrim's Regress, by CS Lewis

I enjoyed this.  It's difficult for me to not enjoy something by my friend Jack.  However.  I felt like this was something I'd have written in a literary analysis course... obviously not to the same effect as his, but it was very much a response to a prompt, in my opinion.  The way he used names of literary/psychological/cultural movements was even more overt than Paul Bunyan's original Pilgrim story.  I realize this was one of his earlier works, post-conversion, and that it detailed (in allegorical form) that very conversion, but it certainly does not do justice to the imagination and brilliance we see in his other works.

Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee

A much-anticipated sequel to what is perhaps the great American novel did not live up to its hype.  My opinion.  While it was fun feeling like I was reading something out of a time capsule (Lee wrote this before To Kill a Mockingbird), the plot was undeveloped, and the characters were not likable.  The highlights were the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, naturally - that was the character we fell in love with in the first place.  I didn't like grown-up Scout.  When you read about a book about a precocious young girl, don't you automatically assume she would grow up to be just like you?  I know I do.  And did.  But Jean Louise is nothing like me.  And that made me dislike her.  Ha. 

Perhaps the biggest hit to my soul was the tainting of Atticus's character.  How dare she.  The greatest father in all of literature... is not.  It's a sad story.  It's a messy reality.  And what about Jem?  He's simply been dead, without much ado or explanation.  Eh.  Not what I wanted.  I feel a bit disillusioned with Atticus, and with Scout, strangely.  An interesting read, but certainly not on par with her first published novel.  Read that one again. 

i'm stuck

Here I am on my day off.

I just finished twenty pages of one book,

and here I am watching The Breakfast Club.

I'm stuck.

I'm in the middle of these two books, and I'm bored out of my mind.

Yet - 

despite the fact that I have seven+ recently purchased books sitting on my shelf

taunting me - 

I cannot move past them just yet.  

So I read twenty pages at a time.

Inching along.

Prolonging my fictive misery.

Blech.  

What do I do?

Move on?

Power through?

Stop whining and do something active?

Please advise me.

Here are the two books I'm stuck in.

The Soloist, by Steve Lopez

It's the good and true story of a journalist who meets a Julliard-educated homeless man playing a violin with two strings.  

He befriends this man, writes an article, and begins a journey with him.  

Mental health, 

classical music, 

the state of the homeless in Los Angeles, 

and the unsteady friendship between two men make for an interesting read, right?  

Wrong.  

Sure, the content is fantastic, but Mr Lopez's writing style is... bland.

Knowing him to be a journalist, and this to be his own story, I was anticipating something more along the lines of a Tuesdays with Morrie a la Mitch Albom.

With Lopez, I'm hardly engaged.

There was a movie based on this book a few years back, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx.

Even when I saw it in theatres, the premise was so good, but the movie was slow.

Not as slow as this book.

Egghhhhh 170 pages left.

  

Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James

It's a natural choice.  The sequel to Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice.  

I ought to love everything about it.

But I don't.

P.D. James may be a brilliant crime writer and important person in literature.

But, for all I know, this book doesn't work.

The vivid personalities Austen introduced to the world fall lifeless (no pun intended) under James's pen.

I may only be fifty pages in, so perhaps I've got to give her a break and a chance, but I don't want to.

Meh.  Another I want to finish, but I'm so bored!

Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would

Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would: A Fresh Christian Approach, by Chad Thompson

Obviously, this is a controversial issue.  But it's one that Christians need to rethink and readdress.  Constantly.  Our view on loving our gay friends (not to mention the gay and lesbians in our nation as a whole) needs to be constantly resubmitted to Christ and His love for these children of His.  

This book addresses practical ways to demonstrate love and acceptance to a group largely rejected by the Church.  Written by a self-proclaimed "ex-gay", Chad explains why he believes that through love (not necessarily clinical rehabilitation, or those awful and oft-stereotyped classes our more liberal friends like to poke fun at and loathe), it is possible for homosexuals to change... but here's the catch... if they want to.  The opportunity is there.  As one who is living this process (because, as he says, it is a process, a journey), Chad offers a sort of inside perspective for those of us who are not gay, or those who do not have close gay friends. 

Read this book.  You may disagree with his approach, but it is just about impossible to disagree with his heart, and his aim: to merely represent Jesus in relationship with the gay community.  Love as Jesus would.  Not just in theory, in practice. 

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3:18

8.14 [currently reading]

Currently reading:

Do Hard Things, by Alex and Brett Harris - reading with one of my youth group girls.  Surprisingly, I feel challenged and convicted. 1/4 complete.

The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis - because I cannot get enough of Jack.  (Cannot wait to meet this guy and have tea with him in heaven.)  1/8 complete.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor - one of my absolute favorite stories.  1/16 complete.

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - reading with another of my youth group girls (soon to be college-bound!)  This one is tough, and we've both been busy.  Unfortunately, on a back-burner for now.  1/32 complete.

I like this mix.  Some fiction, some non.  Each important, in their own way. 

The Help

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

I realize I'm about a year or two late in reading this gem, but I must admit I have an aversion to reading the "trendy" ones.  So I had to wait.  And, since I picked it up at the airport when I had finished the only book I brought on our trip to Jersey, I guess you could say I was almost forced into reading it now.  But what a glad and unexpected incident!  

This book, as I'm sure you know, discusses at length the racial segregation of the South during the 1960s.  This topic is near and dear to my heart, having grown up at Camp Beechpoint, ministering to and with a primarily African American population.  Racism didn't (and doesn't) make sense to me, honestly.  So, in reading this book, it was tough for me to remember it is set in the '60s.  Not all that long ago.  That was the foremost tragedy to me.  Beyond that, that this tragedy still occurs to a large degree in our country.  Perhaps not to the same extent, and not protected by law, but the culture is still there.  That hurts my heart. 

I loved the theme of reconciliation.  It's an important one.  The book signed for Skeeter by the hundreds of black churchgoers who applauded her stand, the work she did to give them a voice... made me cry.  More so than any other part of the book, I think.  I loved the relationships.  I loved the anecdotes.  

The movie is on its way from Netflix, and I am excited to see faces and voices set to these vibrant and boisterous characters.  They practically leapt off the page at me, anyway.  

If you haven't read this one yet, please do yourself a favor and pick it up.  It's one you certainly won't regret as a gratuitous summer read.