Books, books, books

Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent Donovan- Brittany and I read this one together; she borrowed it from a colleague. It is the true story of a Catholic priest/missionary who worked with the Masai people in Tanzania in the 70s. He had some pretty groundbreaking methods for the time, great insights expressed with wonderful writing.

The Bible Jesus Read by Philip Yancey- In this book Yancey discusses how the Old Testament is applicable to us, how it answers questions that plague us as a human race. He chooses five sections: Job, Deuteronomy, the Psalms, the Prophets and Ecclesiastes –works that are often overlooked due to the fact that they are considered hard to understand, boring or strange; and he unpacks and discusses what God is communicating about his nature through them.

Things I wish I’d Known Before I Got Married by Gary Chapman- Don’t freak out people, I just like to be prepared. This was a recommendation from a friend, when I got it; I skimmed the chapter titles and was prepared to be disappointed, because they mostly sounded fairly commonsense. But, as I actually read the book, I learned a lot and am glad I bought it.  He’s got 12 chapters based on a statement he uses as a chapter title, like I wish I had known…….that I was marrying into a family.

 

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller- So, I had had this book on my kindle for a while, I had heard talk of this Keller guy. But what made me start the book was hearing a friend of mine (someone much smarter than me) call Timothy Keller today’s C.S. Lewis, what!  This book is great, the first section takes arguments and doubts against Christianity that Keller has heard all his ministerial life and gives rebuttals to those. The second part is a positive argument for Christianity. So, yeah, I am on the TK wagon now. 

Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber- I had always meant to read this book someday, but a family member was diagnosed with cancer this month, so I figured now was the best time. Brittany read it over a year ago and hasn’t stopped talking about it since. It is one of the main reasons she (and as a result me too) has made so many changes in diet.  Which is why I expected it to be all about diet, but it isn’t. It is much more personal than I expected it to be; it is Dr. Servan’s journey from being a fairly impersonal doctor, to being diagnosed with cancer and feeling pretty helpless about it. From his research since then, he has written this book on how cancer victims can take control of their lives through positive attitude, good support system, and lifestyle changes- not as a substitute to chemotherapy and radiation, but as a supplement. It is interesting and helpful so far, I haven’t finished it yet.