2022 Books: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was...not in a great place when I read A Psalm for the Wild-Built. It is now my best read of 2022 for one reason: by the time I finished it, my heart and soul and mind were more at peace than I'd been in months.

I've been recommending this little novella and its successor, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, for months now. They pack a surprising wallop of laughter, joy, humility, simplicity, and peace for such little volumes. I've very much enjoyed Becky Chambers' other novels, but A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a volume I know I'll revisit on multiple occasions in the years to come.

Good books have an impact, so I'll give A Psalm for the Wild-Built my Book of the Year award for this reason: it had, by far, the greatest impact of any book I've read this year.

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2021 Books: Walk the Wire by David Baldacci

Walk the Wire by David Baldacci
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've enjoyed the previous novels in this series much more than I did Walk the Wire. The main character, Amos Decker, remains as sharply written as ever, continuing to struggle with the mental and emotional issues that have marked his story thus far. The pacing of Walk the Wire is ramped up, however, to a frenetic pitch, and the addition of a second plot just leads to jumps in logic and action that feel unjustified and far too rushed.

The second plot is a crossover of characters from another Baldacci series. While other authors have pulled this off well (I'm thinking particularly of Without Remorse, Tom Clancy's masterpiece that details John Clark's origin story), Walk the Wire doesn't hit home with the same impact. Some pieces are in place to make this an excellent story, but it's just too rushed, too busy, too slipshod to work as well as previous entries in this series have done.

All that said, I did devour this one pretty quickly on a brief summer getaway to Minnesota, which can be a lot of fun in its own right. It's not a terrible novel - I've read plenty of those along the way. This one just could have been better, and it's a shame it wasn't. I'll look forward to the next Amos Decker book in the hopes that it'll be more like its excellent predecessors than Walk the Wire turned out to be.

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2021 Books: Cross Sections by Matt Schur

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cross Sections is a thought-provoking, passionate collection of poetry aimed squarely at American Protestant Christianity in the early 21st century. This century has been a target-rich environment for critics of the American church, but what makes this volume particularly poignant is that the author offers his critique from within the institution itself, with an eye toward redemption and healing rather than destruction.

Writing in the vein of authors like Anne Lamott, Martin Bell, and Annie Dillard, these poems are filled with humor, rage, anguish, regret, hope, dismay, reflection, and a thematic underpinning that whatever this age is, it is not the beacon on the hill that large parts of the American Christian community believe it is, nor has it ever been. These poems ask big questions, take big swings, and sometimes make for incredibly uncomfortable reading - the kind of reading that shows you the cracks in the foundations of your thinking and makes you consider whether you've assumed too many things were true that just don't have to be, and maybe shouldn't.

If you're uncomfortable with the way things are, Cross Sections might be a collection of poetry that shows you you're not alone, and gives you hope that the moral arc of the universe is still bending toward justice. If you're comfortable with the way things are, this collection might move you into that uncomfortable place, and then show you you're not alone and give you hope as well. Highly recommended for Christian and non-Christian readers alike.

DISCLAIMER: Matt Schur and I have been good friends for almost 30 years, and I was an advance reader who offered some editorial suggestions for Cross Sections prior to publication. That having been said, I wouldn't post a review if it wasn't genuine, not even for a friend, and I did not request or receive any compensation for this review.

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The Bird that Sang in Color by Grace Mattioli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I accepted a free electronic copy of The Bird That Sang In Color with a promise to post a review when I had finished. I am somewhat regretting that decision because I don't like giving less-than-favorable reviews, save for authors who are either a) dead or b) well-established enough that a lousy review isn't going to harm their livelihood. But I did promise, so here we are.

The Bird That Sang In Color isn't a bad story - I should be clear about that from the start. It's a family tale, one of several in a series told from the viewpoint of several family members. Donna Tucci is the first person narrator of this volume, and it largely deals with her relationship with her brother Vincent. Donna tells her version of the Tucci story, moving through childhood in the 1970s to adulthood in the present day, and there's a lot to tell.

I think the reason I couldn't be more positive about this book is the narration itself. From the first few chapters to the very end, Donna's voice felt scattered and flighty, jumping from one paragraph to another without any real sense of a unifying theme or a clear vision of why this story matters. It felt like a first draft of an autobiography or memoir by someone who isn't actually a very good writer. Entire years get jumped with little warning, it's difficult to keep characters sorted except for Vincent and Donna, and the title seems unconnected to the one element which does move through the entire book, identified in the final chapters. The thought did occur to me that perhaps the disjointed narration is a compositional choice by the author, given that other family members are narrating many of the same events in their own volumes of this series; if so, it's a choice that didn't work for me as a reader. I asked myself "Why?" quite often in reading this book, and didn't get nearly enough answers to that question in the end.

Other reviewers had a far more positive experience, and I'm glad for that, because it means that Grace Mattioli connects with other readers in ways The Bird That Sang In Color didn't connect with me. I'm grateful for the chance to read and review a new author, even if it didn't wind up being what every author would like to hear about their work, and I'd encourage people who've read this far to try the book for yourselves and see what you think. At the very least, the story of Donna Tucci would tell you that happiness doesn't come the same way for every person, and if other readers find happiness reading The Bird That Sang In Color, I'm happy as well.
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2021 Books: Tales by H.P. Lovecraft

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, consider me... whelmed.

I know Lovecraft is a huge influence on Stephen King and many other folks. I can see what so many of them have come to love - when he was on his game, he was fantastic, particularly for his time. But perhaps I should have just stuck with a smaller compendium with At the Mountains of Madness and some of the best short stories, because by the end I was checking out every single time I read the following words: "the mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred..."

High points: The Call of Cthulhu, definitely. At the Mountains of Madness and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward were both very good, and I'd never even heard of the latter. It was the longest of the stories, incorporating several different generations and an interesting, very sympathetic main character. The Dunwich Horror, The Colour Out of Space, and The Thing on the Doorstep were also new to me, and I'm very much looking forward to watching the movie version of The Colour Out of Space when I've got some free time. But page after page of 1st person narratives s-l-o-w-l-y developing from odd suspicions into full-on terror just starts to sound the same after a while.

It could be that if I actually owned this volume, I could pick it up every now and again to try a story on its own as some sort of palate cleanser, but trying to read it straight through turned into quite a slog before all was said and done.

My recommendation: look for a "best of" version or read Lovecraft one story at a time. Don't be a shoggoth and try to devour it whole - there may be unpleasant consequences for those who do.

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Book Review: Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Extra time for reading in these days of pandemic lockdown has found me galloping through The Expanse, the excellent sci-fi series from James S.A. Corey. If you haven't read the series but you think it sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the also-excellent television series based on the novels, originally aired by SyFy but picked up by Amazon a few years ago. This is one of those few instances where the book and the movie/show are both excellent and worthy of all the time you can invest in either or (preferably) both.

Persepolis Rising moves the story considerably into the future of the Expanse universe. The crew of the Rocinante are dealing with aging bodies and a desire for changed lives, but as is often the case in this series, circumstances disrupt these plans and the final act of the larger narrative begins in earnest. To say anything more detailed would involve all kinds of spoilers, so I'll just leave the synopsis there and advise you to start all the way back at Leviathan's Wake so you can truly appreciate the story when you get to Persepolis Rising.

What I genuinely appreciate about The Expanse as a whole is the way its authors (James S.A. Corey is the nom de plume for Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham) are determined to build a world in which the science isn't actually fictional. There are no wings on the Rocinante- it flies with a theoretically possible fusion drive and maneuvering thrusters. In space, no one can walk on the floor of a ship without thrust or spin gravity. Speed is governed by how many G forces the human body can endure, not by hyperdrives or warp speeds. I love Star Trek, Star Wars, and all kinds of other space operas, but The Expanse universe is filled with plausible science AND compelling narrative AND deeply developed characters you come to love and despise and pity and cherish. There's so much here that even on this third time reading this novel, I'm discovering new plot points and being delighted by stuff I've forgotten is in there.

The plan is for this series to end after 9 books, and I'm somewhat dreading that final page turn, because I haven't enjoyed a series this much in years - it might rank right up there with The Lord of the Rings in terms of holding the excellence all the way to the end (looking at you, Wheel of Time & A Song of Ice and Fire). Embarking on this series is a big undertaking, but trust me - the journey will be worth it in the end.


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Book Review: The Last Wish by Andrew Sapkowski

I came to The Witcher from the Netflix series, and in researching the books online the PCGamer website recommended starting with The Last Wish as it establishes Geralt of Rivia and does a fair amount of establishing the universe of these stories.

On the one hand, I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. This book is basically half of the first season of the Netflix series, and from what I've learned, I expect Sword of Destiny to fill out the rest of that season.

If you liked the Netflix series, you'll like this book. It's obvious the series creators wanted to strike the same tone of moral ambiguity in their show that they found in the books. If anything, the showrunners amped up that ambiguity - Sapkowski paints a kinder picture of Geralt and the world he inhabits.

On the other hand, it's odd beginning a series with a collection of short stories, particularly one which is framed as something like a flashback episode. The framing story involves characters who haven't appeared in the series as of yet, but you get dropped into the story with very little exposition all the same. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to connect with the story if you began with this book having not seen the series.

I think I'll try the first published novel, Blood of Elves, next, rather than follow PCGamer's advice and continue with the next story collection. Perhaps that will seat me in the story a bit more firmly.

On the whole, if you enjoyed any of A Song of Ice and Fire you'll enjoy The Witcher, particularly if you're more a fan of fantasy than you are of political intrigue.

Book Review: Dear Church by Lenny Duncan

"Christianity at its core is subversive. But radical evil wants complacency, not subversion...Radical evil wants walls up around our hearts, around our congregation's life, and around this country. Division is how evil operates. We have all become intractable... 

To walk away from a theological commitment to the least of these is to leave Christ on the cross and ignore what happens three days later. To pretend that this isn't our time to stand up and speak a good word over this world is gross misconduct. If I don't accept this call now, I should be defrocked. If the church doesn't accept this call now, it deserves to die."

2019 Books: The Battle for Bonhoeffer by Stephen R. Haynes

"I developed a scholarly interest in the churches' role during the Nazi era in part so I could help ensure that Christians would never repeat the mistakes they made under Hitler. Similarly, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my heroes in part because he was able to resist eh wave of Hitler worship that swept up many German Protestants."

So writes Stephen Haynes in the postscript of The Battle for Bonhoeffer: Debating Discipleship in the Age of Trump. This is a sentiment which I share wholeheartedly with Dr. Haynes. I, too, became fascinated with the story of Bonhoeffer and the Church Struggle of the Nazi era, first as a college student beginning to explore the content and questions of my Lutheran faith as a young adult, then later as a seminarian pondering the deeper questions of the Church, faith, the state/government, and personal responsibility and action in circumstances not easily interpreted into categories such as right/wrong or good/evil. I was just beginning a one year seminary internship in Florida when planes were used as weapons of mass destruction on 11 September 2001; from that moment to today, Bonhoeffer has been one of my constant interpretive companions in navigating an age which does not appear to have a peaceful ending in sight. I am one of many who has been comforted, challenged, and confounded by Bonhoeffer in these years. Haynes makes one point abundantly clear: however wide we think the application of Bonhoeffer has been, our estimations haven't been wide enough to encompass the breadth of the political and religious appropriation of Bonhoeffer, justified or not.

While Bonhoeffer is the main subject of the book, Haynes has divided his text into two main sections: Bonhoeffer before Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, the 2010 biography written by Eric Metaxas, and Bonhoeffer after. True, the official table of contents lists three parts, but Metaxas is the prime meridian here, and deservedly so. 

Haynes does a serviceable job examining the Bonhoeffer legacy prior to Metaxas. However, those who are unfamiliar with Bonhoeffer's story and the ongoing devotion surrounding him might not appreciate the entire picture if Haynes is their first exposure to the topic. Any Bonhoeffer text which only mentions Eberhard Bethge four times is counting on readers already being familiar with Bonhoeffer and knowing the importance of Bethge and other particulars such as the Barmen Declaration, Finkenwalde, and the Abwehr. This is not a biography, nor does it need to be; omitting these particulars leaves Haynes with more room to discuss his main topic, which he does particularly well.

For the majority of the book, Haynes provides a sharp analysis of Bonhoeffer appropriation, particularly in the post-9/11 years and in the rise of electronic media. This is an exhaustively researched book, though the presentation doesn't belabor points or get lost in what I'm certain are some incredibly deep internet rabbit holes. 

Once the Metaxas biography arrives on the scene, however, some of the gloves come off. Haynes addresses some of the numerous inaccuracies, misquotes, and problematic interpretations in Metaxas' book, and reviews from reliable Bonhoeffer scholars which pointed out these issues, with a good balance of economy and clarity to prove his point while keeping the text manageable (I can assure you, the list of problems with Metaxas' appropriation of Bonhoeffer could be very long, indeed). In the last chapters, Haynes paints himself as something of an outsider even among Bonhoeffer scholars,  acknowledging that he often advocated for conversation with Metaxas among Bonhoeffer scholars prior to the 2016 presidential election. That election, however, was the straw which broke Haynes' willingness to suffer Metaxas gladly.

The last two chapters really dig into misappropriations of Bonhoeffer, particularly for evangelicals who joined Metaxas in ascribing support for Donald Trump as something Bonhoeffer would have wholeheartedly endorsed. This argument receives the evisceration it deserves, but Haynes also offers a countering warning to those who misappropriate Bonhoeffer to align themselves against an imagined parallel between Trump and Adolf Hitler. There are similarities, Haynes acknowledges, but our times and contexts do not allow us to simplistically (and lazily) call Trump a Nazi and be done. Perhaps the best argument he presents is a quote from an article written by Victoria J. Barnett in the Washington Post:

"If we can understand Bonhoeffer outside the box - not as saint, not as mythological hero, but as someone who reflected poignantly on evil's consequences for the human conscience and spirit, for an entire culture and country, we may begin to uncover the person behind the mythology: a man who tried to face the darkness of his times. In the process, we may discover someone who can speak more directly to the darknesses and failures of our own."

I wish I could leave this review here. However, a postscript is appended in which Haynes writes a letter to "Christians who Love Bonhoeffer but (Still) Support Trump." I didn't find anything disagreeable in the open letter itself, but it seemed an odd bit of editorializing added on to a book which, to this point, had done an admirable job of avoiding it. Perhaps my discomfort arises from my being largely opposed to most of the Trump agenda, because I'm certainly not the intended audience for such a letter. However, I'm not sure anyone who still supports Trump would have picked up Haynes' book in the first place, and I'm fairly certain anyone who did would have abandoned it long before reaching the postscript Haynes apparently really wanted them to read. But there it is, putting a confusing coda at the end of a good discussion. It doesn't ruin the book, not by any means, but it doesn't measure up to the rest of it, either, and that's a shame. On the whole this is a worthy interpretation of the title: the "battle for Bonhoeffer" is ongoing and needs interpreters like Haynes to help the rest of us navigate a landscape we can't always see clearly.

2017 Books: The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

The Shadow of What Was Lost is a worthy addition to the plethora of fantasy epics by the likes of Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss. If you like long stories about ancient civilizations, hidden magical powers, and subtexts which may include prejudice and social justice, this will be right up your alley.

2017 Books: Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard

This book is...not great.

2016 Books: The Prophet by Michael Koryta

One of the most enjoyable reading experiences is taking a chance on an unknown author and being very happy you did. In some ways The Prophet was about what I expected: a murder mystery with some interesting plot twists. What I didn't expect was Michael Koryta's excellent investigation into high stakes Ohio high school football and how that sidebar added a bit of punch to the story. Granted, being a former player myself and a student of the game for most of my life, I'm a bit pre-disposed to think well of good football writing, but I believe the casual reader will also enjoy learning a bit about the game in the course of enjoying a well-conceived murder mystery.

The main point of the novel is the relationship between brothers Adam and Kent Austin, both of whom live in their hometown and carry the burden of their sister's murder in very different ways. Their relationship overshadows everything in the novel, even the murder which brings about the action that makes up most of the plot, but it's so well written that the reader will enjoy the curious experience of being distracted by the action instead of the interior monologue as is common in the genre.

No heavy lifting required here - just a good book for a trip, something to read in one long pull and savor all the way down.

2016 Books in Review: Gatefather by Orson Scott Card

The Mither Mages trilogy started off wonderfully with The Lost Gate and continued well with The Gate Thief. These first two volumes were the usual Orson Scott Card mix of philosophy, theology, fantasy, science fiction, and excellent characterization of the main actors in the plot. This series in particular leans more toward the theology and fantasy side of his spectrum, a curious mix of American Gods and original themes that make for interesting reading. Or listening, which is what I did for the first two volumes (is it me, or do some of you read all of OSC's work in Stefan Rudnicki's voice?).

2016 Books in Review - Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett

The third book in Ken Follet's massive Century trilogy is, well, long. It has to be - it covers events from the beginning of the Cold War to the election of Barack Obama, ranging from the American Deep South to the coldest reaches of Siberia. It's everything you expect from a Follett historical novel at this point, which is at the same time enjoyable and a touch predictable, if surprisingly so.

The Author A-Z Tag

Something fun for today. Got the idea from my "little sister" Brittany at her blog.


The Author A-Z Tag was created by Jen Campbell on BookTube. The premise is simple: go through your shelves, choosing an author's surname for each letter of the alphabet and highlight one book. If you don't have an author for a letter, choose one from your to be read pile.

2015 Books: Purple Cow by Seth Godin

David Hansen suggested a group of us take a read through Seth Godin's book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable. While I wasn't able to keep up with the group discussion online, I did make an attempt at reading Purple Cow last week as part of my efforts to be better about reading/studying professional stuff (and writing about it here as well).

On the whole, I came away unimpressed.

Book Review: Mediating Faith by Clint Schnekloth

(c) 2013 by Fortress Press

Contemporary media studies would remind us, if nothing else, that all of life is mediated, and much more is media than we are often aware. (p. 3) 

Humans, though they speak of technology as if it were separate from them, are virtually incapable of living a nontechnological existence. (p. 102)
--Clint Schnekloth, Mediating Faith:  Faith Formation in a Trans-Media Era

It is with these thoughts in mind that Clint Schnekloth embarks on an examination of what it means to be faithful, as an individual Christian and as a leader of Christian community, in an age of constantly developing media and technology.  Published from a dissertation presented toward earning the Doctor of Ministry degree at Fuller Theological Seminary, there is much here that will be helpful for all of us trying to navigate the waters of our trans-media times.

Book Review: Wide Welcome by Jessicah Krey Duckworth

Wide Welcome by Jessicah Krey Duckworth
(c) 2013 by Fortress Press, Minneapolis.

"Congregational life today for many Christians is much more an experience of organizational membership...it usually does not matter what expectations or intuitions newcomers bring to a congregation, because what newcomers encounter is a comfortable, closed gathering in which their presence is not necessarily needed." 

"To be a Christian church is for the people under the cross to practice a confession of faith, hope, and love, welcoming newcomers into discipleship practices where faith meets doubt, hope meets despair, and love meets the suffering world." 

--Jessicah Krey Duckworth, Wide Welcome:  How the Unsettling Presence of Newcomers Can Save the Church,  from the Introduction.

Full confession:  I count Jessicah Krey Duckworth and her husband Chris as friends in addition to being colleagues in ministry, so I was predisposed to think highly of this book before I even cracked the cover.  That having been said, I think Wide Welcome brings a needed and valuable point of view to those of us who are concerned with the future of the church, particularly as the church moves from the age of American Christendom to the emergence of whatever is coming next.

2014 in Books: January

Here's the list of books I've read in 2013, updated monthly (more or less), for fun or for some sort of edification, professional or otherwise. 

Recommended titles are in bold, and formats are +(Kindle/eBook), *(audio/iPod).

*1.  The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
*2.  How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
*3.  Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
4.  Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 4) by C.S. Lewis
+5.  Eat, Sleep, Ride:  How I Braved Bears, Badlands and Big Breakfasts In My Quest to Cycle the Tour Divide by Paul Howard
*6.  The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy.

My Ten Favorite Books of 2013

These books are listed in no particular order.  Really.  I couldn't rank them in any sort of order even if I tried.  Links are to the versions of the books I enjoyed - audio when I listened, Kindle when I bought eBook, hardcover when I got that.  Happy 2014 reading!