JRF's #49 - Captains Courageous by Ruyard Kipling

I was in the mood for some 19th century seafaring fiction and Kipling's Captains Courageous was the first book I found in the library that fit the bill.

This was a tough but enjoyable read.  What was tough about it was the language with which Kipling brings his characters to life.  Here's a sample:  "'...Tis a might good thing to have a frind at coort, though.  I'm o' Manuel's way o' thinkin'.  About tin years back I was crew to a Sou' Boston market-boat.  We was off Minot's Ledge wid a northeaster, butt first, atop of us, thicker'n burgoo.  The ould man was dhrunk, his chin waggin' on the tiller, an' I sez to myself, "If iver I stick my boat-huk into T-wharf agin, I'll show the saints fwhat manner o' craft they saved me out av.'"  The book is filled with dialogue like this.

But the reward to those who slog through the difficult vocabulary is a worthy prize for they will find a wonderful story of a boy becoming a man.  The story's protagonist, 15 year old Harvey Cheyne, is the obnoxious son of a wealthy railroad tycoon.  After falling overboard from a luxury cruiseliner bound for Europe, Harvey is rescued by the crew of the We're Here, a New England fishing schooner.  Naturally, no one on board believes he is the son of a millionaire and after a good whooping, he quickly learns that there is no such thing as dead weight allowed on this vessel.

The lessons Harvey learns on the way to manhood are ones that our culture desperately needs to rediscover:  the value of hard work, the dignity that comes from earning your keep, the importance and strength in manly fellowship, dependability, respect for authority, and the value of spending lots of time outdoors.

I leave you with perhaps my favorite passage in which Harvey's father discovers the transformation that his prodigal son has undergone;

The father, well used to judging men, looked at him keenly.  He did not know what enduring harm the boy might have taken.  Indeed, he caught himself thinking that he knew very little whatever of his son; but he distinctly remembered an unsatisfied, dough-faced youth who took delight in 'calling down the old man,' and reducing his mother to tears - such a person as adds to the gaiety of public rooms and hotel piazzas, where the ingenious young of the wealthy play with or revile the bell-boys.  But this well set-up fisher-youth did not wriggle, looked at him with eyes steady, clear, and unflinching, and spoke in a tone distinctly, even startlingly, respectful.  There was that in his voice, too, which seemed to promise that the change might be permanent, and that the new Harvey had come to stay."

JRF's #48 - The King Without a Shadow by R.C. Sproul

Yes, I know this is a children's book. But its by R.C. Sproul so that's got to count for something right?

But seriously, as I am a new proud papa I find myself reading many kids books these days, screening them for my daughter.  I try to use Biblical discernment about what I read for myself, why wouldn't I want to do that with what my daughter will read or have read to her?  So this review represents all the kids books I have read this year.

The King Without a Shadow is a beautifully written and even more beautifully illustrated story about a King who seeks to answer a little boy's question about where shadows come from and how to get rid of them.  His search takes him to the halls of wisdom as well as the cave of a prophet.  It is here in the prophet's cave that he hears of the King Without a Shadow, the one whose Light exposes the shadows of all other souls.

While I definitely recommend this book as a wonderful way to talk with your children about God's holiness, and I look forward to doing so with my daughter, I have two caveats:

1.  The Gospel is skipped over in the story.  The closest thing to the Gospel here is when the King explains to the boy that when he dies and goes to heaven, "then on that day, the day that I see Him, my shadow will leave me forever.  God will take away all evil from my heart...He will make me holy just as He is holy."  That statement seems to make justification from sin something that just automatically happens when we die, not something that is accomplished by the Death of God on the cross and applied to us through faith in Christ alone.  I know the last thing Sproul would want to do is confuse the Gospel but unfortunately here I think a wise and faithful parent needs to expand on what is said in order to make the Gospel clear to a child.

2. This is a much lesser point of concern which I am still working out, and it applies to other Christian Children's classics (think Narnia):  What is the role of using fantasy to teach truths about God to children?  Surely children's fairy tales are great ways to teach morals to kids.  But what is the cost of trying to teach kids about the Living True God who has made a way for salvation from their very real and very present enslavement to sin...by using fairy tales?  I grew up loving the adventures of Narnia and thought Aslan was cool, but until I was chased down by the real Lion of Judah, the death and resurection of Aslan only served to help me keep the Gospel in the realm of fairy tale in my mind.  Like I said, I am still working through this question, and I think a lot will depend on who your child is and how old she or he is.

Did I mention the illustrations were beautiful?  Liz Bonham fills each page with color and light in a style that reminded me of one of my favorite childhood books, Dinotopia.

Eleven Easy Ways to Read More in 2012

I almost didn’t make it to 52 this year.

We adopted our son Hudson in March, and that threw a wrench (or a rattle) into my reading time. I had a busy summer with a visit to the States, a class, and a missions trip to Cambodia. On top of this, I began teaching a new writing course, and my grading load is more than I’ve ever had in my teaching career. Coaching cross-country and sponsoring Model Congress brought me to the breaking point.

With all this going on, I still wanted to carve out time to read not just to meet a self-imposed goal, but because reading is valuable. Books are important, and reading them adds to our quality of living. Many people say, “I’d love to read more, but I can’t because________.” This blank is filled with reasons that are legion. If this is you, let me address a few obstacles to my reading; perhaps this will encourage you to see that they may not be obstacles at all.

1. Stop saying, “I’m a slow reader.” If you think this about yourself, join the club. Just because I’m an English teacher doesn’t mean that I’ve graduated summa cum laude at Evelyn Wood’s Speed Reading class. What I lack in speed I compensate for in tenacity. Commit yourself to finish a book, and spend time doing that. Whether it takes a day or a month, stick with it until the last page. With reading, our speed improves with more books. So, the more you read, the more you’ll be able to read.

2. Limit competing activities. This does not mean eschew meeting with friends or spending time with your wife in order to read (“Sorry, honey, but I can go with you. I already have a date with John Grisham” will not go over well in my house, and I doubt it will in yours either). This means trade watching every episode of House in one evening for some reading time. I found that to read more, I watch far fewer movies than I’ve ever watched. With only three leisure hours a day, I must spend them wisely. We still watch movies and an occasional episode of a show, but I don’t want to lose all my reading time to gorge myself of television.

Perhaps television isn’t your intruder, but video games are. Two words suffice here: Stop it. Nothing is a bigger waste of time than hours spent shooting, jumping, fighting, driving, or Guitar-Heroing. If you tell me that you wish you could read more but waiting in line for the midnight sale of the new Call of Duty game, I have no sympathy for you. Actually, I do because that is a textbook definition of pathetic.

3. Check your Internet usage. For me, the greatest time-sucking black hole in my life is Internet browsing. I’ve written on this before in my past reviews of technology, but it is a constant battle to spend my time more productively than blinding sauntering from link to link,  reading meaningless droll articles on politics, celebrity, or culture. I find that even topics at the top of my interest (theology, technology, and literature) can fritter away meaningful time that I could be reading something of permanence. If you are looking to read more books, set parameters for leisure surfing. Set a timer if you must. We all like breaks from serious work to read the headlines or movie reviews, but let them be breaks, and not where we live exclusively.

4. Set a pattern. What time of day do you best read? Early morning? Late night? Lunch break? Pick a time to spend even 20 minutes with your book. I like the quietness of our house in the morning before work. I have 30 minutes with my coffee to read without distractions. This costs me more time sleeping, but I think the payout is worth it. For you, it may be sacrificing spending your lunch break surfing ESPN or talking with colleagues about the latest workplace gossip. Your sacrifice of either is worth it.

5. Change your Bathroom Reading. This will be a quick one: stop playing Angry Birds or reading Facebook on the toilet. Put a short book in your bathroom instead. You’ll add a few more titles to your yearly totals.

6. Find accountability in your reading. One of the best motivators for me to keep reading is my friendly competition with Mark. He and I push each other to make it to 52, constantly ask about the current books, and read and comment and, at times, insult the other’s picks. Find someone in your life to sharpen you in your reading. Join a book club. Commit to read a set amount of books this upcoming year, and search for a friend to join you. Our church has a monthly theological book group that encourages me to read at least one book per month. Look for one at your church, or start one.

7. Write about your reading. When we started www.my52books.com, we wanted to add the review component to help us to think deeper about the books that we were reading. Knowing that a short review awaits me, I interact with the book differently. Spending the 15-30 minutes writing the review solidifies my thinking about the book, and helps me to remember aspects better. You need not start a blog, but they are free and easy. You can add a Facebook post or merely write it in Word for your own keeping.

8. Bring a book everywhere. Waiting in line at the post office allows me two pages, arriving for an appointment 15 minutes early grants ten pages, and sitting while my car is washed opens time for another five pages. I won’t finish a book in errands, but it gets me closer. As I mentioned before, this beats skipping around an app that balances virtual marbles on my iPhone.

9. Consider a Kindle. Most people who have a Kindle enthusiastically declare that they read more because of it. If the convenience of the device helps you to read more, more power to ya. Get one and read away. I resolved that while I enjoy the ability to get a book quickly, the Kindle is not my preferred method to read. I’m too tempted to play with its features or to search the store for another digital book to download. Also, I like to write in my book margins, and the note-taking on e-readers just isn’t where I want it to be. It may be just what you need.

10. Have variety in your reading list. Don’t feel that you need to read only American classics or Pulitzer Prize winners this year. Mix it up with serious and silly; long and short; important and frivolous. For each The Scarlet Letter, there was a John Grisham. For each Steve Jobs weighing in at 598 pages, there was Note to Self with a slight 134 pages. Having variety adds to the excitement to finish one book and begin the next. I’m not out to impress anyone with my picks (OK, maybe Mark). Look at both the New York Times bestseller list and search for a list of books for college-bound students. Choose from both, and also from those on the Recent Arrivals section of the library. Don’t read anything that you don’t want to.

11. Commit to a realistic reading goal right now. This could be a number: 52, 25, or 12. Find something realistic, and tell someone. Or, commit to a few books you’ve always wanted to read but never have, or authors you wished you read in high school. In 2012, I will read through the entire Bible, Crime and Punishment, and Moby Dick as part of my 52. Making this public will help keep me accountable. Commit to something right now, and make it known.

May 2012 be the year that you read more books than you ever have before. Minor changes could yield major accomplishments this year. Good luck, and happy reading in the new year.

JRF"s #47 - The Cup and the Glory by Greg Harris

This book wins the best book with the ugliest cover award.  This book came out of an exceptionally dark season in Dr. Harris life in which he was compelled to mine the Scriptures' teaching on suffering.  What resulted is a deeply doxological, practical, and theological work that is both challenging and encouraging to those who are suffering or trying to comfort those who are.

Harris' main discovery and thesis is that throughout Scripture the cup of suffering always precedes the experience of God's glory.  If we would seek to taste God in His glory, we must not be surprised when we first must share in His sufferings.

The strength of this book lies in the exegetical depth and excellence which Dr. Harris brings to the passages he explores, specifically the Gospel accounts of Peter's ups and downs as well as the corresponding passages in his epistles.  I also appreciated his candid accounts of his own struggles and how these truths were sowed in his soul and bore healing fruit.

The weakness of this book was that it often went simultaneously so broad and so deep that the scent of the main trail was often lost and only regained with much difficulty.  Perhaps this reflects my limited perspective and ability to make theological connections more than Dr. Harris's writing.

I would rate this book as a more theologically weighty and exegetical but not as well written version of John Piper's Spectacular Sins.

When you humble yourself, you abandon all other sources for hope except for God."

JRF's #46 - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway

I have been into Hemmingway for quite some time, but I had yet to read his most well known book until now.  The Old Man and the Sea, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, tells the story of...well...an old man and the sea.  I'm sure better students of literature can see brilliant metaphors and deep life lessons in this story, but for me it is simply a beautiful story of an old Cuban fisherman struggling for his life against the elements, his age, the great fish he has hooked, and the sharks that seek to take his prize.  This is one of those "the journey is the destination" books, where the joy in reading comes from the descriptive narration rather than the plot points.

If you haven't read any Hemmingway I would recommend this classic as a great introduction to his writing.  I hope you enjoy it.

JRF's #45 - Spectacular Sins by John Piper

 

I read this along with a couple with whom we are hoping to go on the mission field with in the future.  We are trying to feast on a steady diet of books that point us to the bigness of God and His faithfulness even in seemingly hopeless situations.  This is such a book.

I didn't know that Ron was also going to read and review this book this year, but I am glad to point you to his excellent review with which I agree wholeheartedly.  I also would recommend Beth Steward's great review.

Instead of rehashing what Ron and Beth have done a great job of saying, I will leave you with a few of my favorite quotes:

My aim is to show that sin and evil, no matter how spectacular, never nullify the decisive, Christ-exalting purposes of God.  No, my aim is more than that.  These spectacular sins do not just fail to nullify God's purpose to glorify Christ, they succeed, by God's unfathomable providence, in making his gracious purpose come to pass.  This truth is the steel God offers to put in the spine of His people as they face the worst calamities.  There will be tenderness in due time.  But if the back of our faith is broken because we think God is evil or absent, who will welcome Him when He comes with caresses?"

God's allegiance to His own name is the foundation of his faithfulness to us.  If God ever forsook His supreme allegiance to Himself, there would be no grace for us.  If He based His kindness to us on our worth, there would be no kindness to us."

Satan does not take innocent people captive.  There are no innocent people.  Satan has power where sinful passions hold sway."

If you separate God's activity from the death of Jesus, you lose the Gospel.  This was God's doing.  It is the highest and deepest point of His love for sinners.  His love for you."