Book Thoughts--Feeling for Bones by Bethany Pierce

This book is about a teenaged girl struggling with anorexia while her family struggles to survive after he father's been fired.

Olivia grew up as a pastor's kid until her father was fired. Now, her father, is disillusioned by the church, her mother is trying to keep a semblence of a happy home on a budget and growing tired of her husband's unemployment, and her sister runs away feeling neglected. And to make things worse, they've been planted in the middle of a small town, and you know what people say about small towns!

Olivia's walls are papered with magazine cutouts of beautiful women--women she desperately desires to model, and women with whom she'll never be able to compete.

But's it's not just about body image, for even when Olivia realizes that her eating habits are a disorder, it's not so easy to fix. Still, every night she counts the calories and fat grams and makes sure everything fits into the food pyramid. The counting soothes her and gives her a sense of control in a helpless situation.

New beginnings. That's what it's really about.

This book is excellently written with real characters that get up and walk around us. While I wouldn't use the word "quirky", each characters has their own quirks that makes you think, "That's just crazy enough to be true!" Pierce gets inside Olivia's head and creates a cast of sympathetic and flawed characters.

It has one of the best conversion scenes I've seen, although I think for me there was still a sense of, wow, so everything's just fixed now? at the end.

Lessons as a writer: watch catch words. Pierce made a habit out of "retorted." Olivia and her sister often retorted, and it began to get on my nerves.

Also, Olivia's narration sometimes felt pedantic. "This is how I felt. This is what I was thinking." I knew that already because Pierce did an excellent job of showing that, so I didn't need that, and those parts sludged for me.

But a good book. If you like Lisa Samson, I think you'll like this book.

Christmas Wish List

Oh, how I'd love to have one of these babies. You guys need to check this out. Easy on the eyes. Hundreds of books without having to pack a dozen because you never know what mood you'll be in.

Too bad it's so expensive or else it would be on my Christmas list (the real one).

I wonder how long it'll be before our local libraries will have books available for the Kindle.

Book Thoughts--The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

(Note: I stopped calling these "reviews" because let's be honest, I'm no professional critic. I'm a reader who likes certain things and doesn't like other things, and I'm a writer who tries to learn from each book I read. So here are my thoughts.)
This book is lush. A rainforest of words. Especially after reading The Road. The Memory Keeper's Daughter tells a heartbreaking story, and Edwards writes flawed but loveable characters—I hurt for all of them, including the one who caused all the pain. I knew why he did what he did. When the other characters in the book saw him as something of the antagonist, I wanted to tell him, “You’re forgiven.” And nothing in the book is simple or pat. The author develops messy characters and a messy situation, and she doesn’t cop out at the end. There’s hope and redemption, but it’s not easy.
Things that bugged me: repetition. Did the author think I’ve forgotten the situation or a particular memory or how so-and-so deals with it in the space of a few pages? Because of this, the book occasionally felt maudlin.
Also, the male character had a penchant for describing things like a woman. Now, I understand that later he becomes a photographer (don’t worry—that doesn’t ruin anything about the book), so perhaps he’s more visual, and I like when she associates his descriptions to the lighting and shadow he becomes obsessed with in his photography or when it’s akin to the rocks he collects or bones he studies as a doctor. But, seriously, especially in the beginning, using too many words and color choices and hair styles and clothing trends. If she set it up, perhaps he worked in a department store to help ends meet or he followed the clothing industry as part of his way to hide from his past, but she doesn’t, so it doesn’t fit. He comes from backwoods and then becomes a doctor.
In the end, I liked the book. It deals with issues such as the mentally ill and quality of life and how secrets affect relationships.

Blog Tour--Sandra Glahn

My friend and mentor, Sandra Glahn, has a new book on the shelves, Informed Consent, a novel.

Informed Consent tells the story about a doctor and researcher, Jeffrey Cramer, who has discovered a possible cure for AIDS. The media loves him. But guilt from accidents that wreak havoc on the lives of those he loves plaques him and spurs him toward work, taking him away from his family. When another accident? sabotage? brings about horrible results with his cure, the media and the hospital turns against him. Now his own son's life hangs in the balance. Dare he use the cure to save his son's life, even if it means unethical medical practices?

The writings propels you forward, forward, forward in the action, and deep into the character's psyche. Sandi doesn't waste a single word. Each scene spins with meaning.

Nothing is simple. Even when characters make decisions that you know are wrong, you don't question the character. Sandi doesn't give you predictable or easy answers. Flaws pepper the pages, yet these characters aren't pure evil. They are you and me trying out to figure out truth in this messy world.

I had the opportunity to ask Sandi a few questions regarding this book:

This book brings up the question of AIDS, opening up discussions for how we, as Christians, can and should handle it. You've mentioned before that the church in Africa is doing a better job with it than the church in the States. As you know, my heart is to incarnate Christ's love to the hurting and hopefully inspire others to do the same. What are some practical ways that we can incarnate Christ's love to those who have contracted the virus both in our country and in other countries?
. Pray. Really. Fervently.
. Care for widows and orphans. Send money monthly through an aid organization such as Samaritan's Purse earmarked for HIV/AIDS orphans/widows.
. Sponsor someone you can grow to know. Link up with an HIV/AIDS-impacted family via http://www.adoptalegacy.com/ (Heather Jamison's ministry). Sponsoring a family through a ministry such as hers helps put a face on AIDS, and research shows we only give to that through which we feel we can truly make a difference.

[My note: Heather Jamison will be guest blogging on Monday for our Mentor Monday--come back to find out how she deals with everyday struggles in her ministry.]
. Lend to the poor. You can do so through kiva.org (secular) or ALARM (http://www.alarminc.org/) (Christian), which work through locals to help families start small businesses to help with the economic impact of the pandemic. You get all your money back with the satisfaction that you've invested in what lasts.
. Get informed. Watch the Frontline "The Age of AIDS" show online (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/) or get it on Netflix. It will provide you with a terrific history of the disease, what we know about it, and even how the faith community has responded (good and bad). You can also check out a related website: World Vision's info on AIDS.
. Volunteer. In every city you can find ways to volunteer. For example, in Dallas we have the AIDS Outreach Center, which at the moment needs a librarian and someone to coordinate events. http://www.aoc.org/volunteers.asp

Your writing is tight. In fact, Nicole at Into the Fire linked your writing to your journalism background. How do you see that backround influencing your fiction? How has it gotten in the way?

Thanks. Actually, it was the other way around. When I was a journalist, I kept using narrative structure. I'd develop setting, characterization, narration, plot... Journalist Jon Franklin won a couple Pulitzers applying narrative elements to his journalism, so that told me readers like story structure. Writing as a journalist I had to put the least important stuff at the end in case it got lopped off due to space limitations. As a narrative writer, I try to "come full circle" at the end, but the story's ruined if the last few paragraphs get chopped off. I like writing fiction much more than writing for the print market!

Speaking of influences, what/who are some of your influences?

Author(s)? Madeleine L'Engle. Lief Enger. Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Mentor(s)? Reg Grant at Dallas Seminary. My many editors in publishing houses.
Historical Church figure(s)? Julian of Norwich; Margaret Fell Fox; Dorothy Sayers

One of the strengths mentioned numerous times in reviews is your research. I can't imagine coming up with a cure in biomeds and having it sound legitimate! Can you share with us some of your researching methods and secrets?
The first secret is to hire a doc as a consultant! Actually, I've coauthored four non-fiction books in the medical field--two on infertility, one on marital intimacy, and one on contraception. So I kind of knew my way around medical journals and sites or I never would have attempted it. I also had a nasty fall two years ago and had two major surgeries as a result. (For a while I had a hospital bed at home.) So I kept notes on sights, sounds, smells, and procedures down to the tinkling of the plebotomist's vials at 4:30 AM!

Thanks, Sandi! Love your book!

Thanks.

To learn more about Sandi, her ministry, and her writing, visit her website: Aspire2

or her blog: Aspire2Blog

Review--The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I had this written and was waiting to post it when Mich put some of her thoughts on it on the Misfits blog. So here are mine.

Stark. Desperate. Severe. Agitated.

I don't know how often I agree or disagree with Oprah, and I'm certainly not one to go against Pulitzer Prize people (okay, so I might if I wanted to), which means, in the end, that, friends, readers, countrymen, please read this book.

As you well know, it's a postapocalyptic story of a man and his son, the survivors of a world tragedy (most likely nuclear). It's about their unlife, their struggle, and their jealousy of the dead.

Creation undoing itself (rather, man undoing creation), returning to chaos. Few survive, and you don't know who to trust. Man reveling in evilness, and that in itself seems to be required to live. Who are the good guys and the bad guys? When struggling to live, what is acceptable? Where does goodness come in and how far will it take you? Does love count for anything?

That's what this book is about.

I was talking to a friend about the book. He said, "But nothing ever happens."

Exactly.

Tribulation times are not the stage for Rambo. They won't be solved by a good Van Damme kicking. Mir made the point that this is exactly why The Road is a better depiction of end times than Left Behind. There are no toys and coalition to defeat evil. It's you taking one step at a time, making decisions that will affect your life and your character.

The writing itself, the look, the feel, the sound, everything reflects the subject matter. It doesn't use flowy, lush words when there's nothing flowy or lush about the world of the book. Even apostraphes and quotation marks are too much to bear. The dialogue is true and real and shows the labored breath and the arduous journey and the desperate love.

One more thing, and I'll leave you be. The characters. A man and a boy. Could be any man or any boy. Any father and son. Names are a thing of the past, relegated to a world that no longer exists. What is important is carrying the fire. And to keep moving, as Mich said.

Review--The Restorer by Sharon Hinck

To be perfectly fair, the fantasy genre is not my expertise, just so you know as you read my thoughts on this book.

Susan is stuck and depressed. She can't take one more argument between her kids. Her husband, Mark, decides to build her a getaway in the attic--a space where no one but her is allowed, where she can journal and pray and read to her heart's delight. But God had a different getaway in mind. Falling through a portal, she comes upon a nation threatened by war on the outside and by forgetting their identity on the inside. She learns that God sent her as their Restorer.

It's entertaining, and it has a good message. She does a good job with setting and descriptions and an excellent job with characterization. I knew these characters. The book also motivated me to memorize Scripture. We used to do this as kids, but at some point, it stopped seeming important. After all, I have 3,258 Bibles in my house. I can look anything up. Why memorize? But Sharon depicted both the power of lies to poison our thinking and lives and the power of Scripture to combat those lies.

For mothers out there struggling with their purpose now that their lives are consumed with laundry and dishes and snotty noses, this book that God has work for each one of us, including mothers, work for His kingdom. Susan finds out that her identity isn't wrapped up in her kids.

I liked it. I liked that the main character in the fantasy is a woman. To be honest, though, it felt more like an allegory than a true fantasy. More like Hinds Feet on High Places. Almost a long parable. A lot of one-to-one corollations. Lies poison the mind with physical devastation. The nation represent Israel (people that follow the Verses; they even have 2 lost tribes, sorry, clans). It was more like an Hans Christian Anderson story with a morality at the end than a Grimm's Fairy Tale. This is not a bad thing. It has its own power. Like I said, I found it both entertaining and it challenged me to memorize Scripture again. I just tend to prefer non-allegorical books.

Review - Leaper by Geoffrey Wood

This book is quirky, provocative, and hilarious. Over-caffeinated barista (baristo if male?) James discovers God has given him a super-power--leaping (or transporting) from one place to another. It's an odd power, he knows, but it's there. The question is, should he use it for good? Even if it gets him into trouble? The guy's a worry-wart and has trust issues, which makes for some laugh-out-loud (literally--just ask the people next to me on the plane to Jersey) stream of conscious. And the dialogue! It crackles and sparks like dry wood. It is dry humor, after all.

While there is some Catholic theology that I don't agree with, it also addresses questions of faith and the true purpose of the gifts God gives us.

Guys, you need to read this book. Seriously. You will not regret it. You will laugh. Loud and hard. I'm thinking of emailing the author to become his publicist. If you like Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity, A Long Way Down), if you are one of the lucky ones to have seen a sneak preview of My Name Is Russell Fink by the illustrious (I'm not even sure I know what that means) Mike Snyder and liked it, than you'll like this book. Trust me on this one.

Review - The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai is set in the 1980s during the beginning of the Nepalese revolution for independence from India. It's about a retired Indian judge who wishes he was English (along with the rest of his Anglophile, upperclass neighbors), his orphaned granddaughter, his cook, and his precious dog, Mutt, whom he prefers company to than any human. There's also the cook's son who has emigrated to the states and the granddaughter's math tutuor.

Really, the book is about cultural identity.

Desai moves between first and third world, between upper and lower class, between master and servant. She shows how the revolution destroyed lives, but also how the colonialism that preceded (and perhaps necessitated?) the revolution destroyed lives. You find yourself sympathetic to all sides but disdainful of all sides. They're all right, and they're all wrong, in the end. I think it's amazing how she was able to do that.

Her book is mostly third omniscient, which is not my favorite person. I prefer limited, and she does slide into it at times. It was a slow read for me. I thought I didn't care for the characters themselves, only the ideas, but then, one day, I cared for the characters. I don't know how it happened. The book is understated. Nothing maudlin here. People clinging to everyday lives, trying to make an everyday life, in the midst of war and poverty.

And relationships, the book is about relationships: relationships lost in the effort to make a better life. How is that life better when you've lost connection, she asks.

I love how she uses setting as an extended metaphor (you know how metaphors make me weak in the knees). There aren't any "likes" here. No similes. But in the midst of a fight, of pride and love, she describes the rooster and hen at the feet of the lovers/fighters.

Inheritance of Loss won the Man Booker Award last year (find the shortlist for this year's award here). I ended up loving the book, but it took more work than some (which, I suppose, is good for me).

Blog Tour

I'm organizing a blog tour for friend, mentor, and author extraordinaire, Sandi Glahn. It will be from mid-October to mid-November for her newest release, Informed Consent, a novel.
Sandi has written numerous books, including popular nonfiction (some of which have been translated into a few different languages), Bible studies, and novels, including CBA bestseller and Christy finalist, Lethal Harvest. If that weren't enough, she's a prof at Dallas Theological Seminary and the editor-in-chief of the award-winning Kindred Spirit. See, I don't use "extraordinaire" loosely.
A little bit about the book: Jeremy Cramer, M.D. is the next Einstein of infectious disease research. While working on a way to revive water submersion victims, he makes a breakthrough discovery in AIDS research that thrusts him into the center of a media frenzy. But the publicity turns negative and his marriage reaches the breaking point when he accidentally infects a colleague and his negligence allows his son to contract a lifethreatening disease. The viruses test the limits of his new formula and his ethics. In his frantic efforts to save his son and his marriage, he must decide whether to allow his child to die or violate the rights of a young transplant donor. The choice forces him to stand face-to-face with the unfathomable love required to sacrifice an only son.
It explores issues such as biomedical ethics, AIDS, and interracial marriage.
To make things easy, there will be a prepared interview, if you wish to use it. If you prefer your own quacky questions, we can set that up as well.
If you would like to participate (and you know you do), email me with which date(s) you prefer and your blog address at heatheragoodman [at] yahoo [dot] com.
If you know someone who you think would be interested in participating, please send them here. Oh, and if you're interested in meeting Sandi and either live in the DFW area or will be here for ACFW, stop by her book-signing at the Dallas/Addison Marriot Quorum by the Galleria on September 22 from 1:30 to 2:30 or stop by her blog anytime.

Review - Digging to America by Anne Tyler

I loved this book. Two families, one your typical Caucasian (loud and opinionated), another immigrants from Iran, are thrown together when they both adopt Korean daughters. It's a mismatch, and the Iranian grandmother, Maryam, can't understand why her son, Sami, and his wife, Ziba, want to cultivate the relationship. They, on the other hand, can't understand why she refuses to give up her outsider perspective. It's a beautiful story, tied together by the daily, the mundane, even, which is what I love about Tyler (who could never be mundane).
The book is anything but maudlin, but the end touched me. There I am, walking the dog, sweaty because I had just been running (and was really walking the dog because I've told myself that my iPod audibles are reserved for running and walking, or else I'd never take the buds out of my ears), and just past the lawn crew at the elementary school by my house, I start crying. Not the heaving, hyperventilating bawl, but silent tears.
You get so caught up in Tyler's characters that you don't care what they're doing so long as you can stay with them. Finishing the book is like saying goodbye as a friend moves away.
Another great aspect about this book is the multi-cultural element. You've got the Iranian emigrants and the combination of some of them more or less trying to fit in and others more or less preserving their culture. It's the old question of fitting in: with whom are you going to choose to try to fit in? How are you going to choose your identity? [This question is of interest to me because my character, Itzel, deals with the same issue, so I especially paid attention to how Tyler revealed this.] You've got the different parental responses to adopting from another culture: the Caucasians trying to keep their daughter aware of her Korean roots and the Iranians not worrying about it: letting their daughter wear jeans to the party, for instance, instead of a kimono. I loved the Iranian perspective on North Americans. How does Tyler do that? How does she convince you that she's actually Iranian? Brilliant.

Review - Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

I confess. I loved this book. I fell in love with the characters and didn't want to say goodbye to them. It felt like one of those guilty pleasures. There are two POV's: Cornelia, a thirtysomething manager of a cafe who fell into the job because after college and a short foray into grad school (quickly ended), she didn't know what else to do. She's passionate about old movies and old objects that look like they have stories attached (do you see why I love her?). Then she meets Cary Grant. Well, not exactly. She meets her Cary Grant. Martin Grace is his name.
Then there's little Clare, an eleven-yr-old who, after realizing that her mother is getting sick (mentally), arranges life to continue existing without anyone suspecting what's going on with her mom. She finds comfort in the stories of orphans: Anne of Green Gables (yup, folks, now you must see why I love it, even it if it is on the cliche side), Pippy Longstocking, and the like.
The two stories connect about a third of the way through it, and the relationship between Cornelia, who, for the first time, has to really open up her life and be responsible for someone else, and Clare, who has to learn how to trust grown-ups again, is beautiful.
Now, a warning: the plot is made up of convienient coincidences. Oh, look at what just happened. Well, that allows this other thing to proceed that otherwise would have been backed into a corner. It's annoying, yes, but when you love characters so much, you ignore it. Or at least I did.
Somewhere I saw the book referred to as literary chick lit. It is about a 31-yr-old who doesn't know what to make of her life, and it does start off with a romantic relationship, but it didn't feel like chick lit to me (not that I've read much of it - one book, to be exact). There's no shopping (Vera Wang's not even mentioned, not once). Cornelia's not full of angst but is pretty content. Does this mean that every book about an unmarried 31-yr-old senza murder is chick lit? I don't know about that. But what do I know?
Apparently they're making a movie of it. Sarah Jessica Parker is starring as Cornelia, which doesn't fit in the least for two reasons: Cornelia is supposedly a petite girl of 90 lbs. Very, very short. It's part of who she is. Tallness doesn't fit her. And, no offense, Sarah, but you no longer look like a 31-yr-old. Sorry. I could see Goldie Hawn's daughter what's-her-name playing this possibly, but even she's too tall. Ooh, or Claire Danes. She would fit.

Black and Read

Don your black mourning. Our country's literacy is in the red. I saw this article today in the Dallas Morning News that covers a poll done which shows that 1 in 4 adults read no books last year. 27% of our population read no books last year. I'm still trying to let it sink, hopefully before the entire book industry does.
Some of the findings were standard: more women read than men, and of those women the majority were over 50 (although it didn't say by how much of a majority); of the books men did read, there were more nonfiction than fiction; the majority of readers (again, no numbers given) had at least a college degree.
Here's a surprising (tongue-in-cheek) quote: "'Fiction just doesn't interest me,' said Bob Ryan, 41, who works for a construction company in Guntersville, Ala. 'If I'm going to get a story, I'll get a movie.'"
But there were also new-to-me facts. For example, "those who said they never attend religious services read nearly twice as many as those who attend frequently." On the one hand, this makes sense with the time factor. On the other hand, shouldn't these people at least be reading their religious book? And Democrats read slightly more than Republicans. And here's one that blew me over (no offense to those I'm about to offend): those in the Midwest read more than any other region. Huh. But then again, what else is there to do on a cold night? (Okay, now I'm hated my the entire area. Love you guys. My hubby grew up there, and he's a good man. The best.)
After all this black news, there are two findings keeping the industry out of the red: those who read, read avidly. Like 70 books a year avidly. And the number of sales are up 3% this year. Of course, never know what that'll mean for next year.
So keep reading, folks! (And not just blogs.)

Reviews – A Bigger Life and Son of a Witch

I picked up A Bigger Life by Annette Smith because of its high standing in Novel Journey circles. And because the subject matter is related to my current WIP.
Joel Carpenter lost is wife because of a stupid mistake. Now a single dad, he copes with raising a child part-time and dealing with a life he never expected to have, and that ain’t good. He misses his wife, Kari, and wants a do-over. Then comes his hardest test, and Joel learns that more than freedom, he wants forgiveness.
Kudos to NavPress for going out on a limb in the CBA world with the subject material: a man who has an affair. Besides that, he’s not a Christian (although there’s a Christian presence of love and hope with the characters that surround him), he smokes, and he occasionally drinks (although not in front of the kids, mind you). The book is good in character development, and once I got to page 140, I was drawn in.
Downside: you have to be faithful to the 90% backstory for the first 139 pages. The story itself doesn’t start until after that. I was okay with that for the most part. My primary question is can I feel the character.
Yes, I felt the character with his East Texas redneck accent. Although, let’s be honest here. Joel was not so much of a guy as much as he was the guy women want a guy to be. Does that make sense? There were several things that one of my crit partners, had I sent a story like this to him, would have told me, “That’s not how a guy thinks!” and I would have had the guy burp or something. Or stop taking all the blame on himself and thinking his ex-wife was and is perfect.
One more thing to watch out for: it gets preachy. A lot of characters talking about how life hasn’t turned out right and what Jesus means to me, and it didn’t always feel natural. I felt the book was strong when it showed Christ’s love active in Christians but weak in some of the conversations before that.
It’s contemporary fiction, but it reads like women’s contemporary fiction, though there’s a guy protag. I know, I know. I don’t make sense. But it’s more like Lisa Samson than it is Richard Russo.
Overall, I’d recommend it. The story flows. It’s hard. I cried. But there’s a beauty in it. There’s love and commitment and reconciliation. Oh, one more thing. For some reason, perhaps due to user error, I couldn't find it on Amazon. Sorry, folks. But it's pubbed by NavPress, if that helps.

Now, on to Son of a Witch (which, come on, is just a downright fun title). This one I read because I loved the musical Wicked, which is the other side to The Wizard of Oz. Son of a Witch is about a boy who might be Elphaba’s (the Wicked Witch of the West) son. Or he might not be. It’s a journey of him discovering himself through discovering his past, but more discovering himself by his choices. I struggled with some things because I hadn’t read the novel Wicked but counted on seeing the musical, so I had to piece together aspects that were different. If you haven’t done either, you need to read Wicked first.
The story is good. I enjoyed it. The character still echoes in my brain, which is always a good sign. It was creative, although not as much so as Wicked. The end was excellent, I felt. It didn’t tie up all the loose parts to make it a Cinderella happily-ever-after, but in the discovery, it is happy.
But it was also political, a little too obviously so for my tastes. Just goes to show that it isn’t just Christian writers who are preachy.
I enjoyed it. I found myself in “one more chapter” mode for most of the book, another good sign. Let me find out what’s around the next bend, then I’ll put it down. Of course, the next bend leads you to the next, and before you know it, you’ve taken a much longer lunch break than you meant.
If you want to read this book, and I think it’s worth it especially if you like fairy tales and fantasy (although there’s not a very big presence of magic in it), say so in the comments. There’s one thing I’d warn you about, although it’s not worth mentioning in this post.

Review - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

This novel broke my heart. Jodi Picoult has a way of getting inside a character and bringing me with her. It tells the story of Peter Houghton, after years of being bullied, tries to stop it with an act of violence, a school shooting. Rather than villainizing the shooter, although it doesn’t shy away from what he did, the book points to the responsibility of a community that failed to take care of all the little children.
I’ve only read two Picoult books, but from those experiences, I’m tempted to label her Queen of the Backstory. In the first book of hers I read, Harvesting the Heart, it was overwhelming and slow. But in this book, the flipping back and forth only served to dig deeper into the lives and motives and hearts of the characters. Her ending was powerful, but I won’t say more than that so as not to give it away.
While I didn’t necessarily recommend Harvesting the Heart, Nineteen Minutes I do. Perhaps it’s Jodi’s development as an author over the past ten years…

Unreview - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

This is an unreview because all I want to do, really, is say for the record that I'm done (finally - don't you hate when life gets in the way of fantasy?) and I liked it and I no longer need to avoid half the world because someone might give away the ending, which I'm not going to do. While Rowling's prose isn't an Anne Tyler melody, the story is powerful. At one point, I found myself crying so hard I couldn't read the words on the page (nobody mistook me for a Stoic).
And now sadness that it is finished (allusion purposeful).

Writing Meme

D'Ann tagged me. I haven't done one of these in a while.

1. What's the one book or writing project you haven't yet written but still hope to?

A novel about a couple who meet in Africa on missions projects and impulsively get married. Meanwhile (back at the ranch), an African woman (who becomes close to the new bride) struggling to survive. Okay, so I confess, I don't know the actual story, but someday I want to write about these characters. Story to follow...

2. If you had one entire day in which to do nothing but read, what book would you start with?

So hard to pick because how can I communicate who I am based on this one question? I'd start with the latest Harry Potter since that is the book I'm in the middle of right now. Then I'd read Jodi Piccoult's Nineteen Minutes, because that is the book I interrupted to read HP. Then I'd get back to From Homer to Harry Potter, my nonfiction read, which often gets put down for a fiction. Then I'd pick up (because it's a really long day, of course), Anna Karenina from my shelves because it's been gathering dust for too long eyeing me, sometimes winking and fluttering her lashes.

3. What was your first writing "instrument" (besides pen and paper)?

If journals don't count, then a computer, first a hand-me-down desktop, then my laptop.

4. What's your best guess as to how many books you read in a month?

Some people keep lists. Not me. I don't know how many I read. 4? 5? Maybe 6? Depends on the month and the life around the month.

5. What's your favorite writing "machine" you've ever owned?

I guess my laptop right now OR really, my Nancy Drew notepad that goes everywhere with me. It houses some fun observations (and hugs walls as it creeps up steps).

6. Think historical fiction: what's your favorite time period in which to read? (And if you don't read historical fiction--shame on you.)

Does Jane Austen count since when she wrote she was contemporary? Or Dickens. Pirates. Okay, so I haven't read anything pirate-y yet - oh, that's not true! I read Treasure Island, and we'll count Robinson Crusoe because I want to though it has nothing to do with pirates. I love pirates and the mafia, so I need to read more pirate-y and mafia-y (the 1920s for the mafia would be the most romantic, methinks).

7. What's the one book you remember most clearly from your youth (childhood or teens)?

50 Jeanne pts to the first person who guesses this. Seriously, folks, if you can't guess this, you've never actually been to my blog.

I tag all the Misfits: Ang, Chris, Jen, Jenny, Mich, and Mike

Review—Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler

Rebecca Davitch discovers that she has become the wrong person in the wrong life. How did a bookish introvert become a party planner? Step-mother of three, biological mother of one, and a widow, at 53, Rebecca hits her mid-life crisis. Once an only child engaged-to-be-engaged to a quiet and organized college student, Rebecca is now the matriarch of a half-crazy family, holding them together despite their squabbles. Once a “serene and dignified young woman,” her role in the family forces her to act with a jollity and borderline silliness that ill-becomes who she should have been.

This book is about second chances and belonging, which, aside from Tyler’s ability to create loveable yet dysfunctional characters that make you want to hug them and slap them, made me love the book. If you’ve ever wondered about that fork-in-the-road decision, if you’ve ever thought about starting over, if you’ve ever considered trying again at love or questioned your place in your family, you’ll understand Rebecca. As typical with Anne Tyler, it’s the little quirky things about the characters, flawlessly consistent throughout the book and seemingly unbelievable, that make the characters real. And her prose flows like the gurgling brook that Rebecca is drawn to. As a writer, I must know, how does her prose read naturally and beautifully and poetic while a book I attempted before this one jolted and coughed like a car on its final outing? I guess I’ll have to keep reading to figure this one out.

Review—Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man by Claudia Mair Burney

I don’t read a lot of chick lits or murder mysteries, so to read a book with both rolled up together was an anomally. But let me tell you, reader, this book captivated me. Bell’s (main character) wit had me laughing out loud. And in between the laughs, Burney dealt with hard issues such as divorce and remarriage, life in the occult (and healing after getting out), interdenominational relations, and a single person’s honest-to-goodness struggles with lust for the person to whom they are attracted. Yes, people, that’s normal, and I love that Burney didn’t shy away from that. And can I say this? While reading this book, I was an African-American woman. And you know what? I loved it. (Being African-American and the book.)

By the way, I never commented on Jodi Picoult’s Harvesting the Heart, which I read previous to this book. In some ways, I was disappointed. It took me a while to get into the book. A couple of writing things got in the way (this being one of her earlier books, I think she’s matured since then). But once I did, I felt the fear of the Paige, the main character, about being a mom. Of course, for those of you who know me and know that I already fear being responsible for another life, you know that it wasn’t a hard leap for me to make!

Video Killed the Radio Store*

We're coming up on my one year anniversary. As of June sixth (still haven't gotten the keyboard fixed and the six key doesn't work), I will have been blogging for a year (I was going to say the amount of days to mix it up from the previous sentence, but missing numbers make that difficult: who wants to say three hundred and sixty five days?). This anni has got me thinking, is blogging killing the bookstore?
The Guardian blog in the UK did a blurb on the internet and literacy. They conclude that the internet is not indeed killing literacy, and I agree (although I do wonder if it is limiting our verbage). Rather, I wonder if blogging is killing the book. For example, right now, if I weren't blogging and reading my bloglines and commenting here and there when I have wise words to impart (such as, that made me laugh or the like), I would probably be reading. Perhaps writing, practicing flute or piano, keeping up on my Spanish lessons, which I lost somewhere between Christmas of oh six and next Easter. Perhaps I'd be working on the material for my upcoming speaking engagement. Maybe I'd be running or sitting outside enjoying the day. (Hey, that reminds me, I have a laptop. Be back.)
Okay, now I'm outside enjoying the day in my backyard, where my hubby and I spent some time Sunday afternoon prettying it up.
And Ordinary Mother of Joe, I forgot to get honey at Sam's yesterday.
So if I weren't blogging, I'd be doing something else (profound). The question is, would that something else necessarily be more productive. Maybe yes, maybe no. I have friends, both online and that I've met in real live life because of the blogging experience. I've been exposed (gasp) to new ideas and philosophies and books. On the other hand, I probably should learn to give myself some limits and not neglect the book or the piano or the Spanish (which suffers the most).
So if you weren't blogging, what would you be doing?

*In 1981 (if memory serves me correctly, it was August), this was the first music video MTV played on its inaugural day. (I don't know what was next, maybe Madonna?) As we all know, radio and music stores thrive. Video did not indeed kill the radio store. I hope blogging will not kill the bookstore.

Review of The Character of Theology by John Franke

In The Character of Theology, Dr. Franke examines the nature, task, and purpose of theology as a postconservative evangelical. His approach follows the reformed tradition taking into account that theology needs both an understanding of God and an understanding of humans. Further, these understandings are not static but historically “have been developed and formulated in the context of numerous social, historical, and cultural settings and have in turn been shaped by these settings” (p. 14). Franke holds that theology itself is second order: only Scripture has a first order position of primacy. “Theology is a metadiscourse on the first order language of the Christian story narrated and expounded in Scripture. The content of this theological metadiscourse should always be viewed as second order, interpretive venture subject to further clarification, insight and correction” (p. 104). Theology is developed from the canon of Scripture, the tradition of the church, and cultural contexts in which theology is developed. Its purpose is to assist the church in its mission of participating with God in restoring good to His creation. While being responsible to the global and universal church, theology has flexibility because while Scripture does not change, culture does in local situations. Franke calls this nonfoundationalist theology.
In his discussion, Franke dissects the postmodern culture, which he clarifies is a descriptor of the “social and intellectual context in which we function,” not something we affirm or deny (p. sixteen: the number six is not working on my computer today for some reason). He takes a look at historic understandings of theological subjects, subjects that are not addressed overtly in Scripture but have been developed and assist the church in its mission. I could go on and on about what he says, but I’ll finish this summary with the specifics I appreciate about his approach:

1. His thinking regarding epistemology. He understands that we all work with the influence of culture on theology. In other words, we all have filters. This is not to say that Scripture itself changes, but our theology does and should.
   Because of the above, his weighing of both the local culture and the universal and global tradition in understanding theology.
2. His focus on the mission of the church. “The purpose of theology is to participate in the work of the Spirit by assisting the community of Christ’s followers in its missional vocation to live as the people of God, namely, as a Christ centered [pardon me, my hyphen key is not working today either] missional community, in the particular social historical context in which it is situated. Theology provides this assistance and service through ongoing critical and constructive reflection on the beliefs and practices of the church and the articulation of the biblically normed, culturally relevant, and historically informed models of missional Christian faith centered on Jesus Christ in order to promote the establishments of missional Christian communities” (p. 188).
3. His commitment to community. This includes an understanding that “the church is more than the aggregate of its members. It is a particular people shaped by a particular constitutive narrative of Scripture, which spans the ages stretching from creation to consummation” (p. 179). Further, he stresses the need for unity among the different denominations as a vital part of the church’s mission to make Christ known (taken from John 17, which just happens to be one of my favorite chapters, even though we shouldn’t have favorites). He finds a place for the diversity within orthodoxy as different parts of the Body of Christ, and says that “the unity of the church is not to be found in full agreement concerning all the teachings and practices of the church but rather in the living presence of Christ in the church. What marks a particular community as a Christian community is its Christ centered focus, which shapes the missional character of its life together. By the gift of the Spirit, Christ not only serves as the example of Christian life and witness but is also a living presence in the midst of the church” (p. 192).
4. His expansive understanding of the means and aim of theology: “Theology is a wider activity than just scholarship…works of art, hymns, stories, dramas, comic books, cinema—all these media can become valid forms for theology in particular cultures” (p. 188). As a musician and writer as well as a scholar, I love this opening for several reasons. It recognizes that whether we like it or not, theology is taught on screen and at concerts and through the music worship part of the service, perhaps more so than from the sermon (my thesis talks about this). It encourages those who practice these arts to take seriously their role in theological understanding. And it encourages scholars and pastors to recognize other influences and encourage them. Secondly within this expansion is a recognition that the confidence of a Christian comes not from indubitable knowledge but through living a life that follows the call of Christ.
   

Franke concludes,

“the purpose of theology is to assist the church in the establishment of Christ centered missional communities that promote the unity of the church and the pursuit of truth in order to foster this confidence for the sake of the gospel and the hope that it offers to a broken world. In this way, theology bears faithful witness to its subject and participates in the divine mission of reconciliation and redemption through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (pp. 197 thru [darn key] 98).

One more word: I love, love, love this book. I think it is a key book. That being said, for those of you who may be interested, it is difficult to work through, especially without some knowledge of theological terms and history.