books: what are you currently reading?

Started by Caleb, June 21, 2006, 11:58:08 PM

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Quote from: dependan on May 20, 2011, 10:35:53 PM
  I think you suggested for me to read this in the good movie thread after I posted about the movie. You said the book is better and it is by a LONG shot. Just started chapter seven, it's very hard to put it down.
Ah, I see.  I do so much book recommending that I can't keep up.  I remember wanting to put my face in my hands and cry at the end of the book from the sheer beauty and power of the story.  Not in some despairing way, but in awe of the story.  Do check out that festival though.  A fellow at work was wearing a t-shirt from it the other day and I asked him about it, otherwise I'd not have known. 

Quote from: the creature on May 21, 2011, 07:58:37 AM
Ah, I see.  I do so much book recommending that I can't keep up.  I remember wanting to put my face in my hands and cry at the end of the book from the sheer beauty and power of the story.  Not in some despairing way, but in awe of the story.  Do check out that festival though.  A fellow at work was wearing a t-shirt from it the other day and I asked him about it, otherwise I'd not have known. 
Here is the link I found.
http://www.redfernfestival.com/index.html

Quote from: dependan on May 21, 2011, 09:25:22 AM
 Here is the link I found.
http://www.redfernfestival.com/index.html
That's it.  

Just finished NOTES FROM THE TILT-A-WHIRL by N.D. Wilson.  Excellent theological/philosophical book about wonder in the world around us (and a bit about the one to come).  Highly recommend if you're burned out on the flavor-of-the-weekers like Rob Bell, et al. 

Next up, THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY by G.K. Chesterton. 

LIVINGSTON TAYLOR: STAGE PERFORMANCE
I've been considering this book for a long time, but as it has been out of print for some time, the available copies go for a healthy premium, way over and above the $12.95 list price.
But I bought it, and I started it last night. Quite good. I have finally started doing quite a bit of performing, and it doesn't exactly come easy or naturally for me.
Taylor is a full professor at the Berklee College of Music teaching two courses on stage performance and is a vice president in the Development Office.
Coincidentally, he will be performing here in town in June and I am working that show.
I first saw him perform about 25 years ago, and he definitely has some incredible stage presence.

  Finished "Where the Red Fern Grows". EXCELLENT book. The movies fall wayyyyyyy short of the book.

Stated some Bible reading. "Jude" is only one chapter, so I started there :laughin:. But that is a powerful little book. :thumbsup

There are many perspectives on how to read the Bible.  I've been reading it almost twenty years and I've settled into what works for me.  I generally read only one chapter out of whatever book or letter I find myself in (currently the Book of Acts).  And I usually read a chapter from Proverbs each day: there are thirty-one chapters, one for each day of most months.  I've seen more fruit from this approach than any other I've tried.  I just can't take the Bible in large doses. Too much gets lost.  

Quote from: the creature on June 02, 2011, 11:44:21 AM
There are many perspectives on how to read the Bible.  I've been reading it almost twenty years and I've settled into what works for me.  I generally read only one chapter out of whatever book or letter I find myself in (currently the Book of Acts).  And I usually read a chapter from Proverbs each day: there are thirty-one chapters, one for each day of most months.  I've seen more fruit from this approach than any other I've tried.  I just can't take the Bible in large doses. Too much gets lost.  

Bingo.

Think of it this way, written by tens of authors over millenia - trying to cram it into a year is possible just not fruitful.  I would suggest a chronological approach once you've taken on some of the New Testament.  I'll see if I can find the one that our church put together on a timeline.  I'll post a link if there's one available.
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Quote from: rockstar_not on June 02, 2011, 10:56:51 PM
Bingo.

Think of it this way, written by tens of authors over millenia - trying to cram it into a year is possible just not fruitful.  I would suggest a chronological approach once you've taken on some of the New Testament.  I'll see if I can find the one that our church put together on a timeline.  I'll post a link if there's one available.
I have many timeline readers. Many Bibles include them in the pages at the end. I think it is good to at least read through the whole 66 books at least once in you life. ( good luck with Job)

Quote from: dependan on June 02, 2011, 11:31:40 PM
   ( good luck with Job)

One of my favorites. First few chapters are very interesting.
A Hebrew, under the Spell
Pain is a good thing

Job is one of my favorites as well.  A good philosophical read if nothing else.  Good luck with the book of Numbers! (Never was a math guy)

Just finished Cormac Mccarthy's Blood Meridian, and on to Peter Mathiessen's Shadow Country.  What a ride! :coffee
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L'ABRI by Edith Schaeffer.  From the widow of Francis Schaeffer, the story of thier life and times in Switzerland when they founded their study center there, L'Abri (French = the shelter). 

Quote from: Queequeg on April 14, 2011, 09:16:56 AM
I just finished TINKERS by Paul Harding. The language in this book is so good that it is lyrical. His phrases just hang in the air for a while after you read them.
this from amazon.com:
Harding's outstanding debut unfurls the history and final thoughts of a dying grandfather surrounded by his family in his New England home. George Washington Crosby repairs clocks for a living and on his deathbed revisits his turbulent childhood as the oldest son of an epileptic smalltime traveling salesman. The descriptions of the father's epilepsy and the cold halo of chemical electricity that encircled him immediately before he was struck by a full seizure are stunning, and the household's sadness permeates the narrative as George returns to more melancholy scenes. The real star is Harding's language, which dazzles whether he's describing the workings of clocks, sensory images of nature, the many engaging side characters who populate the book, or even a short passage on how to build a bird nest. This is an especially gorgeous example of novelistic craftsmanship.

Just finished reading this based on your recommendation.  A bittersweet read that feels like a song as it is read.  This book left me with a few thoughts:  First of all, it was one of those books that when I read the last page, I closed it and gazed at the cover for awhile.  I looked at the authors name, the name of the book, and the photograph that was chosen by the publisher.  I wanted to remember each of them; like a look back in the rearview mirror as you pull away from the house to head for the airport for a business trip.  My second thought was then to reflect on the creative genius that exists in some people and how they can craft stories so real, you swear they came from your or a close relative's history.  Finally, I said a prayer of thanks for these people who grace us with this genius with words that are more rich than Ansel Adams photography; that they choose to share it and not keep it inside.

I read perhaps 4 books per month.  Very few authors move me in this way that this Paul Harding has done with his first published novel.
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Quote from: the creature on June 08, 2011, 11:57:52 AM
L'ABRI by Edith Schaeffer.  From the widow of Francis Schaeffer, the story of their life and times in Switzerland when they founded their study center there, L'Abri (French = the shelter). 

Very cool book indeed! Dr. Schaffer's "How Should We Then Live" was one of the first books that made me realize that faith need not be blind.

On my own nightstand.... "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan, "King's Cross", by Timothy Keller, and "Lord of the Rings" (for the Nth time!).
Remember when the music came from wooden boxes strung with silver wires...

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Quote from: Hooked on June 17, 2011, 06:35:29 AM
Very cool book indeed! Dr. Schaffer's "How Should We Then Live" was one of the first books that made me realize that faith need not be blind.

On my own nightstand.... "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan, "King's Cross", by Timothy Keller, and "Lord of the Rings" (for the Nth time!).

HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE was a real eye-opener for me a few years ago.  I guess the thing that Schaeffer taught me the most is how to spot the thing behind the everything (e.g. all art carries the worldview of the artist, etc.).  I started looking at the world a lot different after that one.  He has been a key player in the development of my thinking on a lot of levels.

I've heard good and bad things about Chan's book.  Some say he presents an impossible standard on how to live while others seem to find him dead on the money.  I've not read him but I have listened to one of his lectures, and there is no denying the man operates out of a strong sense of passion for his particular view.   Keller gets referenced a lot on John Piper's blog.  Sounds like we might hang out in some of the same circles.  

Currently reading:
DAVID ELGINBROD by George MacDonald

I am having mixed feelings about Chan's book, too. Won't go further tha that yet, still reading and processing.

As for John Piper - I have a nearly full shelf of his books - fabulous! He and Steve Brown are huge influences on me. If you've not read "Scandalous Freedom", by Steve - go get it. I'd send you a copy but I've given them all away. Keller's "King's Cross" is another.

Grace and peace!
(and donuts!)  :donut :donut2 :coffee
Remember when the music came from wooden boxes strung with silver wires...

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Quote from: Hooked on June 17, 2011, 07:23:43 AM
I am having mixed feelings about Chan's book, too. Won't go further tha that yet, still reading and processing.

As for John Piper - I have a nearly full shelf of his books - fabulous! He and Steve Brown are huge influences on me. If you've not read "Scandalous Freedom", by Steve - go get it. I'd send you a copy but I've given them all away. Keller's "King's Cross" is another.

Grace and peace!
(and donuts!)  :donut :donut2 :coffee
Steve Brown, as in the deep-voiced, bald fellow with a radio show?  If so, I used to hear him back in my earliest days on my Journey.  I like Piper's blog and sometimes I'll download some of his sermons.  He is a gifted poet too.  But sometimes I cannot connect with his books for some reason.  A lot of it comes off as dry (and I don't necessarily mean to be critical) to me and it's usually a labor to get through one of his books.  But sometimes that kind of labor is what I need.  I read his book THINK earlier this year and plan on rereading it a few books down the line.  It's the best thing I've read from him, mainly because the subject matter is exactly where I'm leaning at this stage in life.  

Working on Ann Coulters' latest, 'Demonic'

I've been reading her column for some time now, but this is the first of her books I've opened.
A Hebrew, under the Spell
Pain is a good thing

Just added 'Moby Dick' to my bedside table!
Remember when the music came from wooden boxes strung with silver wires...

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Seagull S6

Just started GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson. It's been on the list for a while, the first recommendation I remember being from John Piper, then it kept coming up all over the place.  Good stuff so far.  

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