As part of my intentional practice of self care, I’ve been indulging more in one of my favorite hobbies—reading. Because Labor Day is fast approaching and it’s been a while since I’ve written any sort of book review, I offer you here my summer reading list from 2019.
How could a good and loving God possibly will that a young Christian mother would come down with stage 4 cancer? In Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, Kate Bowler examines some of the favorite heresies of American Christians. Bowler examines how the prosperity gospel has crept into mainstream Christianity, while exploring some deeply held lies you probably never realized you believe.
Sarah Quezada writes:
In my internalization of “prosperity gospel lite,” I have narrowed what God’s presence looks like to a baseline level of comfort, security, and ease. But Lorena’s experience and faith challenge me. We are not promised safety and comfort, and I would argue those are two of the biggest idols in American Christianity today.
I was returning from ten days volunteering in Laredo, TX in May when I heard about the death of Rachel Held Evans. Until that time I had never read any of her books. This summer I read three. Read them in this order, the order in which they were published:
- Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions
- Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
- Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
The subtitles tell it all. But please, read the books in their entirety and refrain from cherry-picking quotes out of context.
The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd, is historical fiction set in 1800’s American south, inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke. Sarah is part of a wealthy slave-owning family and is given a slave for her birthday, despite her personal belief in the evils of slavery. We see the two girls grow up together in a world where women have little say, and discover how Sarah’s unconventional beliefs affect her place in her family, her community, and America. Powerful and thought-provoking.
I read Debby Irving’s Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race for a class I took this summer, and I’m so glad I did! This is the memoir of a privileged white New Englander waking up to her own white privilege. The author gently reveals the experiences that opened her eyes, in a way that the reader can’t help but realize her own privilege while reading.
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, by Jose Antonio Vargas is the story of a Filipino man brought to the U.S. as a child, and the complete absence of legal avenues available to him to gain legal status in this country. Reading this timely book you will learn about the American immigration system, and you will be moved by a personal story of determination and courage.
Nowhere Boy, by Katherine Marsh is the young adult and children’s selection for All Pikes Peak Reads 2019. A modern-day Anne Frank story, about a Syrian asylum seeker in Belgium.
Yes, I do enjoy historical fiction and young adult and children’s literature. One of my book clubs is reading When a Ghost Talks, Listen, the second book in a soon-to-be trilogy, so of course I began with How I Became a Ghost, the first book in the series. This story of the Choctaw Trail of Tears is heart-breaking and important.
Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann wrote The Prophetic Imagination in 1978, but this classic is still relevant today. Brueggemann examines biblical leaders, including Jesus, to contrast the subversive kingdom of God with the world’s empires of despair.
Happy reading!
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