I need to get these last couple of "What I'm Reading" posts out for books I've read in 2018! I have one more after this one, and I'll try to include a round up of my favorites of 2018 in that post.
1. Inspired by Rachel Held Evans
This was a lovely memoir-style book about how Evans grew up with one type of idea about the Bible, and how that view was changed and then expanded. She is honest and vulnerable about her religious upbringing, her doubts, and how she has worked through the doubts to come out the other side with even more love and respect for the Bible, even while knowing she wouldn't readily be accepted by the circles that she grew up in. I always appreciate well-written and personal explorations of what it is to grapple with the Bible, and I enjoyed this read.
2. Varina by Charles Frazier
I borrowed the audiobook of this one on recommendation from a friend who said the narrator was superb, and she was right. I like the writing and narrating better than the story or its characters - there was something a little surreal and non-relatable about how the story moved, but the writing was beautiful and the reader was excellent. Reading this one made me interested in his "Cold Mountain" (the one that was made into a hit movie) and I put it on my list.
3. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
This one was wonderful and everyone should read it. I first heard this book from Ken's co-worker, Sean (who was on our podcast recently!) and I was excited when it finally came through from the waitlist I was on for it. I thought about this one for days afterwards. I was instantly taken in by the approachable tone in which he starts. He begins with his foray into law school and then his immediate venture into the world of public defending and death row cases. He is such a skillful and thorough storyteller - he is able to relay the details of a complicated legal case and also convey all the complexity of emotions that goes along with it. (Parts of the story telling reminded me of the excellent journalism of Serial.)
The book only mentions Jesus once, but it's the book that made me think the most about who Jesus really is than all the books I've read, Christian-themed books included. This book is about the most marginalized, the poorest, the most defeated people in our society and it takes a good hard look at them, and at the society that created some of its problems. It also made me think about how although I can't be a public defender on death row right now, there are other ways for me and for others to really practice just mercy where we are. The problems that land a person in desperation starts with poverty, lack of family structure and support, insufficient education, and lack of support for mental health, which can be found in every city in America. Kids are vulnerable, women are vulnerable, the poor are vulnerable. There are so many ways to address these vulnerabilities: by supporting kids, foster cares, education programs, single mothers, and being aware that systematic racial injustices are pervasive throughout.
4. Brothers Karamazov by Fyodr Dostoevsky
What a book! It was one of the more difficult books I've read recently. I read it with others in my book club and we extended the timeframe to read to two months, rather than the usual one, because we all realized immediately that it was going to be a big undertaking. My initial take on it was that it felt like an allegory, which I can't stand for some reason, and also all that the female characters in the book were portrayed as awful, hysterical, unreliable people, which also gave me pause. I kept pushing on though (mostly due to my friend Anya who had finished it before me and said it was worth it) and it wasn't until I got 3/4 of the way through that I started really enjoying and appreciating it for what it was. It's a book that is just as much about the journey of questioning faith and wrestling with doubt as it is the sweeping statements it makes, and as much about hope as it is about despair. The read felt like a journey to a place where I was asked to let go of my preferences and keep going despite by reservations, and it was an entirely satisfying one.
No comments:
Post a Comment