Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate

5 of 5 stars

Spectacular book. Well-timed choice, too. Not the answers I would have liked in every case, but at least there is some depth and explanation of what gay Christians go through. Strongly recommended.

My Ideal Bookshelf, by Thessaly La Force

Didn't get real far in this, and I mostly skipped around. This is a very clever idea, and would be fun if I knew (or cared about) the people whose shelves were picked. And why not just show the shelf instead of having someone draw the books? So confusing; kind of a good idea for a group of friends to get together and do.

Wondering about the possibility of having the staff do this as a publicity stunt for work. With actual photographs, of course.

The Mammoth Book of New CSI, by Nigel Cawthorne

This book reminded me so much of the sorts of books I read as a child (although more gory than those, of course) that it was a little disconcerting to have a case from one of those childhood books get mentioned in passing in the midst of discussing one of the cases in this book.

OJ is in here, as is the OK City bombing, and several other not-as-well-known cases. The discussion of the Jeffrey McDonald case was fascinating. There are several British cases I'd not heard of; not a surprise as this was published in England.

Quite enjoyable.

Half Moon Bay, by Jerry Crow

I went on vacation and found a bookstore and bought about a book about the place where we stayed. Doesn't everyone do that? :-)

Nice history of the area. Probably should've read this BEFORE we went, but who does that??

The Fabric of America, by Andro Linklater (on CD)

I have to say that I wouldn't have read this with my eyeballs, but listening to it was remarkably interesting. Not what I expected at all, but a completely different point of view of the expansion of America.

I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had : My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High, by Tony Danza

A perfect view of what it's like to be a brand-new teacher facing a sea of teenaged faces in an inner-city school. We really have GOT to fix the educational system in this country.

The Story of Ain't : America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever Published, by David Skinner

Never got past page 25 of this book. Booorrrrinnngggg.

Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King Jr.

Sadly, I just never had the energy to read these sermons, although I really REALLY wanted to....

From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences, by Elie Wiesel

I love Wiesel's words. The only problem with reading his books is that I don't want them to end. Even though this is a book of essays and speeches that were published decades ago, they remain telling and topical. After, nothing in history has changed--the Holocaust still destroyed his family--and, sadly, we still haven't learned how to stop hating.

I read this over the course of 7 months because I wanted to savor the words, listen to the stories of his childhood, and absorb the depth of each page. And now I'm done with it; perhaps I'll read it again....

Peter and the Starcatcher: The Annotated Script of the Broadway Play, by Rick Elice

Lovely book that includes the script but also lots of notes from those involved in creating the story and show, as well as deleted scenes of interest that give a very interesting view of how the show evolved. I wouldn't mind seeing this (ahem). The only quibble I have is that the commentary in some of the notes got just a little precious at times.

Walking on Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School, by Timothy P. McLaughlin

Earnest kids' poetry and short essays about what it means to be Lakota Sioux. Clearly project work, but some lovely imagery. Kids are pretty amazing, and while this is uneven, it's a good snapshot of what they think about life on the rez.

Finished in less than 45 minutes.

In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero, by Otto Penzler

My main thought as I was reading this was that I can now claim that I've read a festschrift, and for an author I had come to adore well before he died a couple of years ago.

This was a collection of essays on Parker, Spenser, some of the other characters and series Parker wrote, and even the TV show and movies based on his work. Fun. Not difficult reading. If you love the series(es), you'd enjoy the book.

The Second Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong, by John Lloyd

Oh, trivia how I love thee! I think I'll see if I can find the first book. I didn't get all the sidebar humor--it's very British. I think I learned stuff, but for the life of me right now I can't think of anything. Ah, the best part of trivia is that it moves into my brain and takes up lodging without any stress on me at all.

Legacy of the Frontier : Day Trips to Historic Sites That Shaped the West, by Deborah Erickson

A quick read, this book centers chooses four historical sites within reasonable driving distance from Denver--Bent's Fort, Georgetown, Scotts Bluff, and Fort Laramie. As a travel guide, this is pretty useful, but as a reading book not so much. Sadly, I've only been to Georgetown, and didn't know enough about its history at that time. Still, to a certain degree its placement in this book is as a "sample" gold or silver boomtown. I've had plenty of experience with that elsewhere.

China in Ten Words, by Yu Hua

An interesting take on looking at changes in the lifetime of the author. His school years match up fairly well with the years of the Cultural Revolution, and he chooses 10 words that have changed meaning between his childhood and now. It might be interesting to look at American culture and language in the same time period the same way.

Listomania : A World of Fascinating Facts in Graphic Detail, by The Listomaniacs

Fun, easy to read graphics. Probably took me less than 90 minutes of concentrated attentiveness. I read it while I was working a Scholastic book fair, and while waiting for my laptop to boot up.

Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything, by David Bellos

It took me forever to read this, but it is so well-written and interesting that I couldn't give up on it. Starts with the basics of what defines translation and moves on to different concepts and quarrels within the translating community. Really fun, well-written, and quite a lot of stuff to chew on. It even made me rethink how I understand the story of the tower of Babel! The best part, as far as I am concerned, is his explanation of how the UN translators work, and how the lack of qualified candidates is becoming quite dire. The EU discussion was also fun, though I still don't have a clear picture on how it works: everything is done in all the EU languages? But...but...how??

Everything You Know About God is Wrong : The Disinformation Guide to Religion (part 1), edited by Russ Kick (on CD)

Well. Where to start?

Some of the essays included in this were interesting; in fact, most were thought-provoking and worthwhile. There were a couple though...whew. Oh my God (pun intended).
Paper tigers created? check
Facile arguments? check
Mispronounced words? check ("KapperNYAYum" for "Capernaum"? Really?)

I'm becoming increasingly annoying that when people argue about "Christians" or "religion" the Typical Christian/Religious Person is a completely unethical moron. Sure, there are moronic and amoral Christians, but there are a lot more of us who are neither.

The best essay is the longest, which is the summation of findings of the investigation into the Catholic diocese in Philadelphia around child sexual abuse. Absolutely the most disgusting, difficult thing I've ever listened to. It shook me to the core that the Church ignored this for decades and turned a blind eye to the destruction of children's souls.

The other very good essay is about the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland. Another case of the Church having a lot to answer for.

Short version: people suck, and power corrupts, inside as well as outside of religion.

FYI (edited by Bjorn Carey)

This was science presented in bite-sized chunks. Fun. I did like the approach, and the questions were fun. Not precisely deep, hard science, but still interesting. LOTS of space stuff.

Simply Jesus, by N.T. Wright

Wouldn't mind giving this another try sometime.....