I follow my blogs using Google Reader. It's a great way to have all the posts I want to read gathered into one place in a way that shows me only the posts I haven't read yet. So efficient, I love it. Thing is, I apparently follow a ton of prolific writers, because I am well over 200 posts behind in my blog reading. Yikes! That might also have something to do with the fact that I've been pretty sucked into some interesting reading lately. In case you're looking for your next good read, here's a quick recap of the past handful of books I've read this winter (some of which I've already mentioned in previous posts).
One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. 
Getting lots of good attention lately. I started by following her blog and had to read her book. She is a very poetic writer who digs in deep both into her own story and experience as well as a rich history of theologians who have wrestled with her questions around the problem of pain. Reading this was good for my soul.
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
. Ugh. This book is graphic and dark and in my opinion, manipulatively written to attempt to use narcissistic murders as a case against all religion. Unfortunately, it was a total page turner. Reading this book was not good for my soul, but it was rather informative (though heavily biased) regarding the history of Mormonism.
A Walk Through the Bible by Leslie Newbigin. I needed to cleanse my pallet after the above. For all my years in Sunday School, it was really helpful to get one clear overview of the whole story told throughout the bible. This is such a quick read, and so helpful. If you have ever felt curious about Christian scriptures, this is a useful tool!
Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright. This is its own kind of page turner. His writing style isn't poetic or even what I would call "beautiful," but simply put, the content has changed my life in a big way. Too big to recap here, so just keep an eye out for a slew of blog posts with the label "surprised by hope" to follow all the thoughts this book has been spurring in me.
Meals with Jesus by Tim Chester. I was so excited by the premise of this books: food + Jesus. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in the end. He tries so hard to get a broadly comprehensive collection of all the meals remotely related to Jesus, that he doesn't end up getting as deep and clear into the material as I was hoping. That said, I retrospectively realized that after reading it, I accidentally arranged to host 5 meals in 14 days for a total of almost 40 people, so apparently it spurred me to action [or lunacy?], which is a valuable accomplishment for any book, getting people to actually change their behavior.
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I know this book is so last-last-season, but I finally got around to it. Better late than never. Gladwell is a great story-teller and this was great fuel for my research synopsis addiction. I love his project of shifting us from thinking of "self made men" to understanding the power of the community that surrounds any greatness. I was also pleasantly surprised by how personal he made this collection in the end. I wasn't totally satisfied with his discussion around "concerted cultivation" as I don't believe parenting truly comes down to so simple a dichotomy. But, it has me looking around my own life to wonder what project I'd want to invest 10,000 hours of my time into (assuming I ever had 10,000 hours to spare - does mothering a child count? Can that be my expertise?), or what history is leading up to and ready for that I might have to offer.
What have you been reading this winter, Lobsters? Any recommendations? Any thoughts on these books above?
