nonfiction

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

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My roommate let me borrow this book as a birthday present.  As much as I love fantasy, I have a weird “but I’m not that nerdy” attitude toward authors that aren’t J. R. R. Tolkien.  Which is completely dumb, because I am that nerdy.  Anyway, I let it sit untouched for a month, at which point my roommate said, “Um, are you ever going to read that book I gave you?”  Feeling guilty, I started reading….and couldn’t stop!  Mistborn is SO GOOD.  It’s a high fantasy heist novel, two genres I didn’t realize need to be combined all the time!

The world of Mistborn is atmospheric (ash falls from the sky on a regular basis) and extremely intriguing.  Although we don’t learn how Allomancers first received their power, not in this book at least, I am totally in love with the creativity behind these “magical” powers.  Allomancers can swallow and then “burn” metals, which give them various abilities.  Special Mistborn men and women can burn multiple metals at once, giving them the ability to alter peoples emotions, gain strength, or most impressive, push and pull metals around them.  The ways in which characters use these abilities are increasingly creative throughout the story, and I was delighted by their creativity.

I also appreciated the…in-betweenness of the level of violence in Mistborn.  People definitely die, and there are a few scenes of squeamish grossness.  But this is no Game of Thrones, which I’m grateful for.  I want realistic levels of death tolls in a story about war and uprisings, but I don’t want to be constantly grossed out.

I should also mention how awesome Vin is.  She’s a terrified street urchiin turned fake noblewoman, both roles which help her discover her true self–a scared but bold woman who fights for those that she loves and delights in her skillset.  I can’t wait to read more about her in the final two books of Sanderson’s trilogy.  Continue reading →

Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey

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The church is meant to be a place where sinners find Jesus and learn to love each other in unity on a journey toward become saints.  Unfortunately, the church remains filled with sinners who often devolve toward infighting and arrogance.  Those who grow up confused by the disparity between what is taught and what is lived out can be tempted to leave all of Christianity behind.

Although my church past is not as horrifying as Yancey’s, I still struggle to reconcile the strains of legalism and divisiveness that I was taught alongside grace and love.  Reading Soul Survivor was like taking a gulp of fresh air as I was encouraged to leave the bad behind and cling only to the good.

Yancey’s spiritual growth largely came from looking outside of the church to social reform leaders and literary geniuses.  As a soft-hearted bibliophile, I was utterly won over by his thirteen spiritual directors.  Much like the men and women described in the Bible, the people who most affected Yancey are complicated people who pursued the difficult life of forgiveness and reconciliation while also committing affairs and battling depression.  They are not perfect people, but they wrestled with God.  Unwilling to accept easy answers or the status quo, the people who fill Soul Survivor‘s pages are so inspiring.  I’m so grateful to Philip Yancey for his honest recollection of his past as well as his offering of spiritual giants to learn from and emulate.  Continue reading →

Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams

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My friend Jenna has always wanted to go to Machu Picchu, and I have never been interested in joining her.  But when travel blogger Nomadic Matt recommended this book about a guy researching Machu Picchu’s discovery while exploring the Incan ruins for himself….I got totally hooked!  Where is my ticket to Peru?  I’m ready to go!

Well, not really.  If Adams did anything successfully, it is convey the physical toll of climbing up and down numerous mountains.  I’m not hugely into exercise, but he’s also brilliant at describing the stunning views from those same moutaintops.  I’m willing to work through the pain for the reward.  Continue reading →

Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber

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There is a growing awareness amongst Christians that the Church in America has often become a place of meeting for the healthy and privileged.  Nadia’s church, House of All Sinners and Saints, deliberately fights against this habit, reaching out to the culturally disenfranchised–the alcoholics, the homeless, the queer and transgendered.  Reading about her passion (based on her history as a conservative Christian turned Wiccan alcoholic turned Lutheran pastor) was completely invigorating.

What really impressed me, though, was that her knowledge of God’s love doesn’t stop there.  As an outsider, it is easy for her to love outsiders.  But when her church started attracting middle-class suburban men and women, she felt many of the same emotions of disgust and tight-lipped smiles that are usually directed for her crowd.  What is amazing about Bolz-Weber is her commitment to live out her faith, no matter how hard or how long she spends fighting against it.  So against her natural inclinations, she welcomed the “normal” people into her church and created space for conversations between the different groups of people.  What resulted–friendships and healing relationships between two often opposed groups of people–was absolutely beautiful to read about.  Continue reading →

The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning

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Many books that describe “how to follow Jesus” read like a to-do list.  Pray, read your Bible, fellowship with believers, confess sins, practice accountability, etc etc.  Manning’s book does none of those things!  It’s as if he really believes and understands that Christianity is a relationship with God that involves interaction and emotion.  Instead of checking off spiritual disciplines, Manning tells his story, detailing moments in his faith when he felt close to God, when God seemed distant, when he was overwhelmed by the reality of Jesus’s love for him, Brennan.

The Signature of Jesus presents a high calling to a life of sacrifice and discipline, but Manning makes it sound not only possible, but desirous.  And that’s the difference.  We don’t do things to please God or to make ourselves feel closer to Him.  We seek out God and receive Him and feel His love for us–and then we do things.

I love everything Manning has written.  I think he is such an important voice to listen to, especially for perfectionistic task-driven people like me.  Continue reading →

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

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My mom loves these books, so when I saw the first of the series at a book sale for fifty cents, I thought, “Why not?”  My mom and I don’t often agree on books, but Mma Ramotswe’s no-nonsense clever detective work would be enough to win anyone over.  I really enjoyed her bite-sized cases in Botswana and the way they brought out stories of Precious’s past relationships with her father and husband.

I am really impressed by Smith’s ability to write from a woman of color’s point of view.  Mma Ramotswe is dignified in the wake of grief and trauma, and it is no surprise that she is so successful at her job.  She wins people over when necessary and intimidates them into giving up information at other times.  Continue reading →

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

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I once received a comment on a blog post that said, “I know you look at this differently, but I do not believe there has been an ages long conspiracy of men to keep women down.”  At the time I was too flabbergasted to respond with any kind of eloquence.  Now that I’ve read Men Explain Things to Me, I won’t have to speak for myself; I will simply hand a copy of Solnit’s book and let it explain things for me, if you will.  *wink*

Seven essays on the female experience, Solnit’s anthology is a must read for anyone interested in the subtle ways our patriarchal society oppresses women.  Sometimes this is manifested in ignorantly arrogant men speaking over women, as in her first essay, “Men Explain Things to Me.”  All too often, however, this oppression takes the form of violence, because

There’s so much of it.  We could talk about the assault and rape of a seventy-three-year-old in Manhattan’s Central Park in September 2012, or the recent rape of a four-year-old and an eighty-three-year-old in Louisiana, or the New York City policeman who was arrested in October of 2012 for what appeared to be serious plans to kidnap, rape, cook, and eat a woman, any woman, because the hate wasn’t personal.

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God With Us by Glenn R. Kreider

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Dr. Kreider is my favorite professor at Dallas Theological Seminary.  I try to take his classes as often as possible, even when they are twice a week at 7:45 a.m.  As a night owl, this is the strongest recommendation I can possibly make.  When he published God With Us in late 2014, I jumped at the chance to have his wisdom in portable book form.

What makes Kreider’s theology so appealing is the way he condenses controversies and debates to their simplest common denominator.  His book continues this practice by covering the entirety of the Bible through the lens of God’s humble decisions to give up his position of authority in order to come to us and relate to us on our level.  Although this humility is best seen in the person of Jesus, Kreider convincingly argues that the triune God has acted in this way from the beginning of creation to its re-creation.  Continue reading →

Scary Close by Donald Miller

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Donald Miller is one of my favorite authors because he writes honestly and deeply about faith, relationships, and trying to live a meaningful life.  When I heard he was writing a book about intimacy and vulnerability, it was a no-brainer to pre-order it.  I read the whole thing in one day, alternately overjoyed and disgruntled depending on if his words hit a little too hard to home.

Scary Close is not a self-help book.  Instead, it is Don’s story of how he grew into relational health after realizing he consistently found himself in manipulative relationships in which he was trying to use a woman to fulfill his own deep-seated needs.  Sometimes I felt like he was peeking into my brain, especially when he described how he has always used humor, intelligence, and writing to get people to like him.  It was helpful, then, that he shared a lot of the wisdom he has received from therapists, friends, and his fiancee Betsy.  Continue reading →

Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris

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When I heard Neil Patrick Harris was going to write an autobiography, I fangirled hard.  When I heard his autobiography was going to be in the form of the classic “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, I was…skeptical.  It sounded cool, but how could it possibly work for a memoir?  I’ve read it now, and once again I feel ashamed for doubting NPH’s creativity and genius.  This was one of the best autobiographies I’ve ever read!  Continue reading →