Two literary tools

I've been playing around with two book-related websites. The first is Amazon, which is so much more than just a place to buy books. I've been posting some old book reviews there - a couple are taken from my old blog, a couple are reviews I wrote for periodicals, and the rest are pared-down versions of book reviews I wrote at college. Anyway, here is my list of reviews on Amazon.


The second website I have been playing with is LibraryThing. I've listed my books there, having imported them from weRead. All the books, that is, that I both own and have read. Anyway, LibraryThing has some great tools on it, and one of them is the capacity to construct a word cloud from any given list. So, here is the author cloud of my personal library.

Kara's September/October Reading

Currently Reading:

The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond by G. K. Chesterton

Mr. Pond is an odd character. He's always saying things that just don't make sense...at first. Take this from the first story, "The Three Horsemen of Apocalypse" : "... Grock failed because his soldiers obeyed him. Of course, if ONE of his soldiers had obeyed him, it wouldn't have been so bad. But when TWO of his soldiers obeyed him--why, really, the poor old devil had no chance."

And then there were the two doctors who "came to agree so completely that one of them naturally murdered the other..."

I'm enjoying this book. :)

Her Father's Daughter by Gene Stratton Porter

I've only just begun this title, but expect it will be an enjoyable, if somewhat flowery read. Porter's interest in birds and plants again comes to the fore in this story of a young girl living on the outskirts of 1920's Los Angeles.

Recently Finished:

The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out by Mark Driscoll

This book took me a while to finish, simply because I found it hard to get past Driscoll's tone. I found it both overly familiar--this diminished after the first chapter or so-- and times abrasive. However, now that I've made it to the end, I find myself wanting to read it again. There are many things he says about evangelism and culture that make me uncomfortable. But this is a good thing, because I am forced to ask myself "why?".

One thing in this book that I appreciate is the emphasis on evangelism through hospitality. This is an area I would like to grow in. Here are a few other things I've been thinking over:

"The way to avoid sin is not to avoid sinners but to stick close to Jesus." (p. 40)

"As long as Christians fail to repent of self-righteousness, we will continue to speak of evengelism in terms such as outreach, which implies we will not embrace lost people but will keep them at least an arm's length away." (p. 78)

"Jesus told us that the kingdom will be filled with joy, and so we make it a habit to take God very seriously and everything else very lightly." (p. 187)

My husband has written a review which covers the contents of this book more in depth.

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

A mark of a good book of historical fiction is that it makes you want to read some real history. Even better if a bit of mystery is in the mix. This book fits the bill. It's a criminal investigation held hundred of years after the suspect(s) and victims are dead. On trial: Richard III.

Overall a great read, even though I was quite irritated at some historical revisionism regarding the Covenanters. Seems a bit much to marginalise them as simply political radicals, none of whom actually died for their faith.


From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple

A travel book in which Dalrymple retraces the steps of John Moschos, a 6th century monk who traversed Byzantium in its declining years, and then wrote a book called the Spiritual Meadow . I suppose what I liked best about the Holy Mountain was how I could learn ancient and modern history simultaneously. I was fascinated by the accounts of many strange sects, such as the Stylites, ascetics who lived on top of pillars. This book gave me a greater understanding of the difficulties that Christians face in the Middle East, and of the complexity of the issues behind conflict in the Holy Land.

Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis

One of the most intense books I've read. Probably wasn't a good idea to pick this up right after finishing Fahrenheit 451! Lincoln's Dreams is the story of a young researcher who meets a girl who is having very strange dreams. He soon concludes that they are not actually her dreams, but the dreams of Robert E. Lee, somehow transferred across the years (an idea I found quite disturbing). He sets out to help her, and soon finds himself in a bit of a predicament. There is a twist to this story that in retrospect I should have picked up on sooner. A very strange story.

John's October Reading

Currently Reading:

The Compass Rose by Ursula Le Guin

This is a book of short stories that seem to linger in the grey zone between science fiction and fantasy. I'm starting to develop a taste for Le Guin...

Primeval Saints by James Jordan

I've read a fair bit of James Jordan over the years (mostly on the Biblical Horizons website) and he's always stimulating. In this book he looks at the patriarchs in Genesis. My wife read it a while ago, and now it's my turn.


A Passion for Books by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan

A modern classic in the books about books genre. The subtitle says it all: "A Book Lover's Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Love and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring for and Appreciating Books."

Scientific Mythologies by James Herrick

This is a true "Science and Christianity" book, but it's also "Science Fiction and Christianity". Herrick examines the interplay between science and science fiction over the past century, and some of the myths that have arisen in both. I think this book has a really cool cover:


Finished Recently:

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre

This is a gritty, "realistic" spy thriller, not at all like the James Bond books I read as a kid.

Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport by Richard Mouw

The idea of this book comes from a scene from the 1979 film Hardcore (which I have not seen) in which a Dutch Reformed elder from Grand Rapids attempts to explain the five points of Calvinism to a prostitute at Las Vegas airport. Which raises a whole lot of questions, that this book attempts to explore: How does TULIP relate to everyday Christianity? Is Calvinism more that just the five points? Do we refer to the "Reformed distinctives" when we explain the gospel to non-Christians? I really enjoyed this book up to chapter 8, when Mouw's inclusivism bubbled to the surface.

Travel with Robert Murray McCheyne by Derek Prime

Note the non-standard spelling of M'Cheyne's surname. Still, this is a solid contribution to a worthwhile series. It is a biography combined with a travel guide, which means the reader is treated to some lovely, if somewhat gratuitous, pictures of Edinburgh, Dundee and Jerusalem.

Minority Report by Carl Trueman

I heard Carl Trueman speak in Melbourne a few months ago. Hearing him was great and reading him better. This book has several shorter pieces from his Wages of Spin column on the reformation21 website, as well as four longer pieces. Two themes emerge from his writing. The first is the necessity of studying (and understanding!) church history. Not all that surprising, really, given that Trueman is Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at WTS. The second theme is a bit more surprising: he critiques the "mere Christianity" popular in modern evangelical circles, which thrives at the expense of a robust confessional orthodoxy. Trueman's perspective comes out most clearly in his review of Is The Reformation Over? by Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom. Thought-provoking stuff.

John's September Reading

Currently Reading:

Emma by Jane Austen

I've actually been reading this for ages. Now that my sister-in-law has started reading it, the race is on to see who finishes first.

Martin Luther's Tabletalk

I remember my old church history lecturer, Maurice Betteridge, once saying that Luther would be a much more interesting dinner companion than Calvin. Fortunately for us, some zealous disciples wrote down the stuff he said at the dinner table.

Essays on Reformed Doctrine by Jelle Faber

I'm returning to my roots with this book. This is a collection of essays from a man who for twenty years was Principal of the Theological College of the Canadian Reformed Churches, the denomination in which my Dad was once a minister. Most of Faber's essays deal with the doctrine of the Church.

An Introduction to Aramaic by Frederick Greenspahn

I'm learning Aramaic! It's the much-neglected third biblical language. Although most of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew, Ezra 4:8-6:18 and 7:12-26, Daniel 2:4b–7:28 and Jeremiah 10:11 are written in Aramaic.

This is the first book I've read on computer. Luke and Amy kindly gave me their old laptop last month, and I've been using it for work. I installed a copy of my Bible software on it, and discovered that it included this book. I'd been meaning for ages to learn Aramaic, and thought this was a great opportunity.

Finished Recently:

The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King

This is one of the books discussed in the excellent Preachers and Misfits, Prophets and Thieves: The Minister in Southern Fiction, which Kara gave me for my last birthday. The main character, Dean Lynch, is a minister's wife neglected by her husband. Plenty of food for thought.

The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by Don Carson

One reason the doctrine of the love of God is difficult is that the Bible talks about God's love in several different ways. The love the Father has for the Son, God's general love for his creation, God's "salvific stance towards his fallen world," his "particular, effectual, selecting love toward his elect," and love that is conditioned on obedience. Carson deals with all these aspects in a masterful way.

The Seven Ordeals of Count Cagliostro by Iain McCalman

The story of Count Cagliostro is a fascinating one, and McCalman tells it well. It is, in effect, a history of Europe in the second half of the 18th century, since Cagliostro's story intersects with those of Marie Antoinette, George IV, Casanova and Catherine the Great of Russia.

Athanasius' On The Incarnation

This is the edition that comes with the famous introduction by C. S. Lewis, in which he says that it is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. "If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones." Lewis also says that he tends to find "doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books." On The Incarnation is a great book to read devotionally.

John's Dustings

Since Kara has posted her list of books recently read and currently reading, I thought I'd better do the same.

Currently Reading:

Enthusiasm by R. B. Knox

This book has numerous untranslated French and Latin quotations, but it's still worth the effort. Writing from a Catholic perspective, Knox describes movements within Christendom such as Jansenism and Methodism.

The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper by Vincent Bacote

I'm giving a lecture on Kuyper at the end of August, so I thought I'd better read some more about him.

Autobiography of John G. Paton

Paton was a pioneer Presbyterian missionary to Vanuatu. Last year our denomination had a missionary awareness day for kids, and I dressed up as him:

I'm the one on the right.

Collapse by Jared Diamond

The book is a follow-up to Guns, Germs and Steel, which I read a couple of years ago. That book made the argument that it is geography rather than biology that determines the destiny of civilisations. Which is just a secular version of Acts 17:26: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

Here Diamond chronicles civilisations that collapsed, such as that of the Maya, the Vikings on Greenland, or the inhabitants of Easter Island.

Finished Recently:

Heiland by Franklin Sanders

This is almost post-apocalyptic in its tone. Heiland, the protagonist, is a coin minter who works as an intelligence officer for the Tennessee Free State in its struggle against the US Government.

Christ-centred Preaching by Bryan Chapell.

Probably the best book on preaching around.

The New Faithful by Colleen Carroll

Does for the Catholics what Young, Restless, Reformed did for the Calvinists.

Fatherland by Robert Harris

This rather intense book is set in a 1964 in which Germany had won World War II.

Dusting off the shelves...

Blogging has been the furthest thing from my mind in recent months. Not too surprising, as those months involved two very life-changing events: marriage and an international move. But as the two-month anniversary of my wedding approaches, I feel the urge to once again toss a few words of my own into the blogosphere.

Currently Reading:

Primeval Saints by James Jordan

This is a study of some of the men and women in the book of Genesis. Since John and I are currently reading through Genesis, this book caught my eye. I was further intrigued by this sentence in the introduction: "From the pagan point of view, Abram did not act honorably when he told Sarai to tell Pharaoh that she was his sister and not his wife. Many Christians have faulted him for this, but as we shall see, he was acting in faith to preserve God's kingdom. And God vindicated him. "
I have yet to find out why he says this...

The Complete Stories of Dorothy Sayers

I was thrilled to find this on John's shelf! I loved the Lord Peter short stories, and had been disappointed that none of Sayers' other short stories were available in libraries near Wichita. Now I'm zipping through the 300 pages of adventure that I missed. Some of the stories send a shiver down my spine. Others make me feel like the top of my head is coming off. Not sure what that means. But perhaps others who've experienced the sensation will understand!

For a Glory and a Covering by Douglas Wilson

John is reading this to me. It's a bit more theological in tone than Wilson's other books on marriage. He does repeat many things he has said elsewhere, but those things are worth repeating.

June 6, 2009

Finished Recently:

Sketches of Home by Suzanne Clark

Ever since I read Tremendous Trifles by Chesterton, I've wanted to find more essays that appreciate the small things in life. This book is chockful. Honest, poetic, and unsentimental, it chronicles the life of Mrs. Clark from the early days of her marriage til her children reach the brink of adulthood. Mixed in are occasional reminiscences of her own childhood.

In John's home state of Tasmania

Black and Tan by Douglas Wilson

It's been years since I read anything about the War Between the States. But I've had a few questions posed to me recently, so I decided it might be time to revisit the period. I found this collection of essays to be a helpful and balanced discussion of the theological issues surrounding the war. Good mind-stretching stuff.

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

John recommended this to me way back when, but for some reason I procrastinated. Once I had it in my hands, though, I couldn't put it down. It's the collected correspondence of a booklover and a London bookshop and tells the story of the friendships that developed over twenty years. The sequel, Duchess of Bloomsbury, was included in the same volume. It's the diary of the author's trip to London, after the successful publication of 84 Charing Cross Road. Wryly humourous, it brought back good memories of my own travels, and made me want to go back to see the places I missed.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

I can summarize this book in one word: Weird. But enjoyably so. I could feel the author laughing at me as I finished the final paragraphs.


It feels so good to settle down into the rhythm of a new normal. My life is quite different in many ways, but books are a comforting constant!

Too Good To Miss!

Canon Press is running a great book sale through May 8th. There are 9 pages of books for 1, 2, or 3 dollars, including A Great Mystery, an excellent collection of wedding sermons which John and I recently finished reading together.

Check it out!