The Rainbow Rowell Trilogy

Okay, so Rainbow Rowell did not write a trilogy. But she did write three books and I just finished "reading" them. Reading is in quotes because I listened to them on audiobook with the exception of the end of Eleanor and Park, which I will explain. Rainbow's three books are (in the order I read them): Eleanor & Park, Landline, and Fan Girl.

Eleanor & Park

I decided to read this because so many of my friends gave it high marks on goodreads. And well they should. This story follows the intertwining stories of two 16 year olds in Nebraska, Eleanor and Park. Eleanor is new and Park is just trying to get along without drawing too much attention to himself. Besides being new, Eleanor seems to love drawing attention to herself, dressing in eccentric ways and not acting like every other teenager at their high school. These two find themselves unexpectedly bus buddies and their relationship develops from there.

I found many things to enjoy about this book:
1. It portrays the awkwardness of high school in realistic ways
2. Poverty is shown as real and not easily solved
3. The characters are into things that aren't necessarily common (like Tae Kwon Do) but which I could relate to



I also really enjoyed the tension that Rowell created between the characters at various points in the story.

I feel like I'm not doing justice to the book in this review. So, just take my word for it and give it a try.

A note on the audiobook: Since the book switches back and forth between Eleanor and Park's perspectices the voice actors do the same thing. This was a neat thing to listen to. There was a problem with my version when I downloaded it and it didn't include all of the second to last track, so I had to finagle a copy to read. Thankfully there is a bookstore in the town I live in and amazingly the owner had a damaged copy she let me borrow for the day. This was a book that consumed me. So, reader beware.

Landline

Turns out Landline is not a YA book like Rowells others but is an adult book. Makes sense now that I think of it. It follows the main character, Georgie McCool as she struggles between managing her work life and giving the love and attention her family crave. She begins by announcing to her husband she will not be able to go to Omaha for Christmas this year because she has an important interview in which she can pitch her own show to a possible producer. As a TV writer she has had to write other people's stories and now is her big chance. Her husband ends up going with their daughters to Omaha without her and Georgie must decide what this means and how to deal with it. As she is figuring this out (or not figuring it out) she discovers that the old phone in her childhood bedroom at her mom's house allows her to connect with Neil (her husband) in the past. At such a crucial time she has to decide how she will use this powerful tool, if at all.

Several things I liked about this book:
1. Georgie McCool is kind of like Liz Lemon! And I've been watching a lot of 30 Rock lately, so I thought that was neat.
2. The magic time phone was treated with respect but also skepticism, so it worked even though it was the only magical part of the book.
3. There are flashbacks throughout during which you learn how Georgie and Neil got together and how various characters related and still relate including Georgie's writing partner Seth and Neil's ex-fiancee.
4. The conclusion in some ways seemed inevitable yet i wasn't sure until it actually happened that it would happen.



Some things about the book were difficult, like the marital stress, the lack of communnication, the (apparent) crumbling of a life. But while difficult to read, they are all realistic and fit with everything else that was happening.

Fangirl

Fangirl is about Cath, a twin heading off to college for the first time with her sister Wren. Yet since Wren wants to assert her indendence they aren't rooming together for the first time in their lives and Cath is already anxious about leaving home. She is obsessed with Simon Snow, a fictional world similar to Harry Potter and she and her sister had been writing fan fiction about that world and Cath continues to do so. As she encounters her roommate, fiction writing class, and a couple of attractive guys Cath has to find her place. Yet she continues to feel a lack of one. This in addition to her sister's partying habits and the relentless felt presence of a mom who abandoned them when they were 8. Sprinkled throughout are excerpts both from Simon Snow canon and Cath's fictional story Carry On, Simon.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it deals with family dynamics, particularly mental illness very realisitically and in a way that I think could introduce it to people who only have stigma to go off of. Cath grows as a character in satisfying ways. Oh and it really made me want to re-read Harry Potter. And it made me want to write.



By the time I got to Fangirl I could recognize some phrasing and plot tendencies that run through all of Rowell's writing, even in the books within the book in the case of Fangirl. This was more apparent to me than in other authors whose works I have read back to back. I don't know if this is just to be expected or if it is a flaw in Rowell's writing. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed her books. My order of preference is: Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, Landline. Stay tuned, folks, apparently a Simon Snow book is due out this fall and supposedly Dreamworks will eventually make a film out of Eleanor & Park.

How Green Was My Valley and A Man Without A Country

You may be wondering why I have stopped writing on this blog. Is it simply that which befalls all new bloggers? There is the initial enthusiasm which wanes and all too quickly disappears? Partly. But also instead of reading I was playing a LOT of Kingdom Rush. I'm still playing, but not as voraciously. So I finally finished How Green Was My Valley and quickly read A Man Without A Country because it is short and a quick read.

This story is told from the perspective of Huw Morgan, one of the youngest children in a large Welsh family. It took my most of the book to figure out his name is pronounced "Hugh" and not "Huwuwuw". My edition had a helpful "how to pronounce Welsh names" chart in the back. 

This book was simply lovely. The imagery is delightful and interesting and there are several compelling themes throughout: 

1. unions and the attempt to negotiate fair wages

2. how to remain a family during great change and difficulty

3. the role of religion in a village undergoing great change 

4. social propriety and impropriety 

5. the effects of gossip 

6. learning and growing into an adult. 

As I list these things I am realizing that change is a rather pervasive theme throughout the book: 

1. the change the valley undergoes as coal mining increases and slag gets dumped in the valley itself 

2. the change that occurs as the valley becomes more populated 

3. the change that the Morgan family undergoes as various members marry and move away 

4. Huw's changes as he grows older, learns, fights, loves. 

I highly recommend this book, with the understanding that it mimics life and tends to be more episodic in nature.

This was my first Kurt Vonnegut book and from reading it I get a sense of the humor and wit this man possessed. I do not give this book a good review because it seems he mostly just rants about our obsession with oil and how the world is a mess and there's no helping us. 

I have heard this rant before and Vonnegut does not add anything useful, interesting, or moving to it. Toward the end he even admits that some humorists lose their humor and just become angry and maybe that has happened to him. Yes, I think it has. Nonetheless I am intrigued and will probably read Slaughterhouse Five sometime in the near future.

The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age

This book was chosen for the vestry at my church to read as the church undergoes very intentional self-study to determine where God is leading them in the future. I am not on the vestry, but I had been sitting in on meetings, so I thought I might as well read the book. I didn't dislike this book, but I didn't exactly like it either. The author, Dwight Zscheile (yeah, you thought of Nietzsche was hard to spell) comes from a background in the tech world and he brings many lessons from Silicon Valley to the church. I found this book uses a lot of different vocabulary for short periods of time throughout, which was hard for me to focus on and remember. This is not a problem in the beginning of the book, but by chapter 4 we are getting terms such as "technical problems," "adaptive challenges," "lean startups," "pivots," "disruptive innovation," "positive deviance," and "holding environment." That's all just in chapter 4. These terms are not how I am used to thinking about things and served as a barrier to me in reading. I am used to reading theology, pastoral care, Bible commentaries, and fiction. This felt foreign and it took a lot of energy to focus in order to understand all of what I was reading.

Aside from this critique, I really like this book. Zscheile is trying to get church leaders (lay and clergy) to think differently about how they lead so that all those in the church (and outside it) can listen and discern where God is taking them and already working among them. This is a book to change how one views the very concept of church-growth. It is inspiring and encouraging. It is encouraging because it takes the burden of growth off of the pastor and the lay leaders and it is inspiring because it resurrects the notion that the Spirit is the one doing the work and it encourages us to look for where the Spirit is already at work.

I like the content, but found the language and terminology cumbersome and prohibitive. At this point I would only use excerpts of this book with lay leadership, although I am curious to know how my church's vestry is reacting to it.

Not this Typist, The Other Typist

I picked up with book because I ran into someone I used to work with at the library and she told me this was the best book her book club had read in the past year. So, feeling obligated, I took down the title and checked it out. I learned something important from this: Beware of unsolicited book recommendations.

This book has been compared to both The Great Gatsby, which I enjoyed, and Gone Girl, which I hated. I find that comparison to be apt. It takes place in New York City during prohibition and features, you guessed it, a typist, as well as, well, other typists. The place of employment for these typists is a police precinct that is chosen to be an example of enforcing prohibition and shutting down speakeasies throughout New York.

This young woman, Rose Baker, is plain, observant, and isolated. When she meets Odalie, the "other typist" her life changes and she is given (and takes) the opportunity to change her style, or maybe to live her life through Odalie. As the book progresses a pivotal event occurs at which someone recognizes Odalie and tries to piece together the truth from a suspicious death years earlier on Rhode Island.

The entire book is told from the perspective of Rose and as things progress you get the distinct impression that her perspective is not entirely accurate. There are also several repeated hints that something tragic has occurred and the reader will be told all about it all in good time. At the end of the book there is a "reveal" which throws much of the rest of the book into question. However, so much is left unresolved at the end that reinterpreting the entire book in light of the ending is a tricky and maybe even impossible task. For this reason I am only recommending this book to people who enjoyed Gone Girl and who promise to tell me what they think really was going on once they finish it.

On a side note, I found the setting of a police precinct during prohibition to be really fascinating. And look at this awesome picture I found:

Apparently Keira Knightly (who I always confuse with Natalie Portman) bought the rights to The Other Typist and is allegedly making a movie out of it. So says the Internet, at any rate. I hope a movie is made because I want to know how this book will be interpreted by whoever writes and directs it.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

I found this book at a booksale and thought to myself "I've heard of this book, I should read it." Well, little did I realize it was about a mental hospital and an unruly newcomer there. I had mixed feelings when I finished it. I liked the setting because I also work in a psych hospital, so I thought the setting was interesting. I liked the way McMurphy shook things up and tried to buck the system. On the other hand there is a great deal of violence and insinuation in the book that I felt uncomfortable with, particularly near the end. The thing that disturbed me was that I wanted some of that violence to happen because I was emotionally embroiled with the characters. Apparently the movie is a bit different. So perhaps that will be an interpretation I can live with.

Lenten Devotionals

This Lent I read three different devotionals;

A Wondrous Love: Daily Lenten Meditations and Prayers by Henri Nouwen and C.S. Lewis
2015 Lenten Meditations by Episcopal Relief and Development
Show Me the Way: Readings for Each Day of Lent by Henri Nouwen

A Wondrous Love

This is a paper pamphlet that I received when exiting the Ash Wednesday service at The Episcopal Church at Princeton (ECP). I greatly enjoy the services at ECP but only usually go to the non-Sunday services since they meet at 9p.m. on Sundays and that is too late for me. This devotional was nice for a number of reasons:

1. C.S. Lewis and Henri Nouwen are BOSS. How could you go wrong with excerpts from their many writings?
2. Neat picture on the front
3. The excerpts are short so can be read easily
4. The booklet is lightweight and not a burden to add to a heavy backpack to be read on the train

A few things I wasn't crazy about:

1. After each devotional is a one sentence prayer that sometimes had nothing at all to do with the content of the actual excerpt.
2. The prayers were not written by CSL or HN and their lack of depth was obvious
3. Sometimes the excerpt didn't seem to fit the day or the bit of scripture it was paired with.

Overall a good devotional I would be happy to use again during another Lent. Since the days are listed according to liturgical time it is not year specific and this is possible.

ERD

I obtained this devotional from Trinity Church in Princeton, but I was turned on to it by a fellow student at General Theological Seminary. The theme throughout is that of social justice and Lent is divided in several sections each with a different theme summed up in an "I believe" statement. Some examples are: I believe that everyone should have access to clean water, I believe that no one should go hungry, and I believe that all children and families deserve a healthy start in life. These are statements core to the work of ERD and connected to the Millennium Development Goals. Each day begins with one of those statements, followed by a bit of scripture or other writing, and then a reflection on that. These are specific to the day, so this is particular to Lent 2015. Some things I like about this devo:

1. There are some nice reflections connecting social justice to personal piety
2. Several authors are involved so if one person writes poorly you don't have to worry about the next devo being bad necessarily
3. Since it is set up for 2015 I found it easier to find the day. Searching by date is sometimes easier than by liturgical day.

Things I did not like about it:

1. Many of the reflections have less to do with personal piety or practice and more to do with the great things ERD is up to (which gives a sense of fundraising in the guise of devotional material)
2. Sometime the scripture and reflection were totally out of sync with the liturgical day, particularly during Holy Week.
3. At the end of the booklet is an envelope in which to send a donation to ERD as "My Lenten Response." While supporting the mission of ERD may be important, I think the emphasis should be more on personal choices and actions, which most of the reflections focused on.

Overall this was not my favorite devo. There were a few reflections I found meaningful and helpful, but most were not. I would not use a devo put out by ERD again.

Show Me the Way

More Henri Nouwen! I found this on my shelf midway through Lent and decided to use it. This book contains longer excerpts from Nouwen's works, about 2-3 pages in length for each day of Lent and each one concludes with a prayer.

1. Nouwen is really great
2. The prayers were thoughtful and deep
3. The length allowed for settling into the reading instead of reading and moving on without much reflection

This review is shorter than the others because I'm tired of writing, but I really enjoyed using this book and will use it in the future.

The Daughter's Walk

This was my March book club read. From the beginning I was prejudiced against it: the plot sounded unbelievable, so I didn't vote for it. Yet alas it was chosen, so read it I did. Here is the unbelievable plot, which is yet true since this is historical fiction: a Norwegian-American, Helga, accepts a wager from the fashion industry to walk from Spokane, WA to New York City in the span of seven months. If she succeeds she will be given $10,000 and be able to save her family farm which is otherwise threatened with foreclosure. She takes her daughter, Clara, with her. Oh, and all this takes place in 1897. After an account of the walk the book goes on to follow Clara as she becomes estranged from her family, searches for her own family, and seeks ever more financial security.

                                                                

Things I liked about the book:
1. The setting of the late 1800s and early 1900s is described quite well.
2. I learned about pompadours and the "reform dress".
3. I came to appreciate my right to vote.
4. Clara is an intriguing character, always on the brink.


Pompadour!

Things I did not like:
1. The story is still unbelievable. I don't care if it's true.
2. Ah! So agonizing!
3. People keep dying.
4. There's something lacking in terms of plot, such as, well, a plot.

I recommend this story only because of the bizarreness of the main plot point, but I would say, feel free to just read until the end of the journey. Nothing resolves itself the way you want it to. And no climax really occurs. It was fun to discuss at book club though. So if you read it, make someone else read it with you.

Joshua

Good ole Joshua. Famous for leading the Israelites into the promised land after Moses dies on Mount Nebo and for leading that march around Jericho. Yet this book contains more than just that and if you reads carefully and critically one will likely to be not a little disturbed.

I find the new year to be a time of rejuvenated energy toward making new goals and habits. This year I am endeavoring to read two books of the Bible each month. Seemed doable. For January I read Genesis and 1 Corinthians, for February I started to read Joshua and Matthew. I just finished Joshua a week or so ago and am now trying to finish Matthew so that I can start on my March books before this month hits its end.

Since college I have been aware that there is genocide in the Bible, but it hadn't hit me quite so hard as when I read great portions of Joshua all at once. It's one thing always to be encouraging his people to "be strong and courageous" and to trust in God, but it's another to slaughter entire towns and cities, men, women, children, and animals included. The book does admit that not every Canaanite and Hittite and Jebusite was slaughtered for the Gibeonites trick the Israelites into a treaty, thus saving their lives, even if relegated to "hewers of wood and drawers of water." (9:27) Also some Anakim remained "only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod." (11:22) So the program of extermination was not totally successful. Still, it is more than a mite troubling that this program of extermination was ordained by God in the first place.



That brings me to a pivotal question: since Joshua is in the canon do we take it as reflecting something of God's character? How does this jibe with the God who became incarnate to reconcile THE WORLD to himself? Why slaughter all but the Israelites one minute and then die for everyone (remaining Anakim and Gibeonites included) the next? And what do we as Christians do with this book? What do I do with it when portions of Joshua appear in the lectionary? I don't want simply to avoid talking about the unsavory parts of the Bible, but nor do I endorse genocide, of anyone, for any reason.

If this were a true review of Joshua I would not give it a high rating, for the following reasons:

1. Genocide
2. Long boring lists of town allotments
3. Repetition
4. Complete lack of self-critique on the part of Joshua and the Israelites
5. What appears to be a completely biased and unmerciful God



What I do like about it is

1. Rahab - you go girl!
2. Shofar!
3. The messengers from God say that God is neither on Josh's side nor against
4. God does the major fighting and the Israelites just clean up, so it is clear where real power lies
5. The sun stands still



So I have mixed feelings about this book and I can't guarantee that when I preach about it I won't talk about the horror of finding this in our Bible. Maybe having it here is a reminder that we have done atrocious things in our past and that we have used God to justify it.

Starlight: The Return of Duke McQueen

The other day Scott opened a box that arrived in the mail (this is a regular occurrence for us. Usually the box contains something like a knife or shoe wax or jeans or a gardening book) and only held up the contents, sheepishly, when I insisted: several comic books. A few days ago while I was sitting listlessly on the couch bemoaning my fate (also a regular occurrence) Scott flung one at me and commanded me to "read!" That was Trillium. I'll review that later. The next day he did the same thing with Starlight.


Starlight: The Return of Duke McQueen came out as a series of 6 comics either this year or last year. The star of the comic is, you guessed it, Duke McQueen, who is sort of a has-been super hero (Birdman anyone?). When we meet him he is mourning the loss of his wife and encountering a general lack of support from his children. He also has the teeny little problem of no one on earth believing that he saved an entire alien planet forty years prior when his airplane entered a space-time warp or something. So here we have a man dealing with very relatable issues: grief, aging, identity, not being believed when he claims he met aliens (this has happened to you, right?).

Reasons I enjoyed this read:

1. Imaginative artwork
2. Duke McQueen kicks some serious alien ass
3. Deals with real human issues: identity, grief, etc.
4. There's a precocious kid whose name I don't remember because Duke McQueen keeps calling him "space-boy"
5. There's an alien obsessed with American culture who looks like the Fonz.

Yet there are a few things I did not like about this comic:

1. Most portrayals of women show them scantily clad (or not at all clad)

Well, I guess that was the only thing I didn't like about it. Overall, I am enjoying my foray into the comic world. Next up: a review of Trillium!