What are You Currently Reading?

"Vanish" by Tom Pawlik. About halfway through (in one sitting) and very intriguing. Couldn't put it down. Four Chicago area people from varying backgrounds wake up the morning after a weird storm and find that everyone else have vanished. There are strange other-worldly grey creatures hiding in the shadows watching them and (apparently) causing them to hallucinate. It's supposed to be a Christian novel, but I can't figure out how the author will resolve the box he's put his story into.

 

Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen.

The history of Magellan's voyage around the world.

 

The Phantom Ship.

Written in 1839 by Frederick Marryat it is still a good read with theological threads running through the book. It is available free through Project Gutenberg. The language reflects English at the time the book was written.

 

Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books
By Tony Reinke

 

The Last Christian by David Gregory

 

I am reading Bram Stoker's Dracula. I'm digging the movies.

 

Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir by Stanley Hauerwas.

Tim Reynolds

 

Homemade Haunting by Rob Stennett

Charlie Walker doesn't believe in God or the supernatural. But Charlie's views change when he takes the biggest risk of his life---he quits his job to write the novel he's always wanted to write. The problem is that Charlie is a method writer. Since he's writing horror, he needs to experience horror. Charlie begins to dabble with the supernatural and experiences the paranormal around his house. Messages appear on mirrors, furniture moves, and his kids start seeing things. Charlie is so lost in his book that he can't see how it's affecting his family. He thinks if he just stops, it will all wash away. It doesn't. Friends convince Charlie that his only choice is to find God to save his family and home. Charlie becomes the unlikely hero in a supernatural battle. As he fights for his home and family, he meets his guardian angel and the demon assigned to him. Is Charlie going crazy? Is there really a supernatural war taking place around Charlie's home, the neighborhood mailbox, and local swimming pool? Homemade Haunting is a comedy, thriller, and allegory---just the type of story expected from Rob Stennett.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IUSQLC/?tag=baptis04-20

 

I've had two books waiting for me when I returned from vacation...
Can't wait to dig into them.


Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes, Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians
By Kenneth E. Bailey

Darkness Is My Only Companion, A Christian Response to Mental Illness
By Kathryn Green-McCreight

Rob

 

The Story of Britain by Rebecca Fraser.

 

1. The Ronin's Mistress by Laura Joh Rowland

This is book number 15 in the Sano Ichiro series. Based on historical fact this is a retelling of the 47 Ronin's revenge. The decision the court arrived at and the Ronin's decision is surprising to say the least. The revenge of the 47 Ronin is one of the most loved and much written about historical stories in Japan.

If you like history and have any interest in feudal Japan this series should be of interest to you. All are very interesting.

2. The Young Stalin by Simon Montefiore

Again, if you like history and are interested in pre and the early days of Soviet Russia you should find this book of interest.

From a review on Amazon:

 

Currently getting started reading the Dune series by Frank Herbert.

 

You're in for a fun ride. The first 50 pages or so were kind of slow but then the story gets engrossing.

 

The Judas Gospel by Bill Myers

 

Read This Book!

I just finished a classic this morning :Black Beauty,by Anna Sewell (1820-1878). She was an invalid most of her life. This was her only book and she died within five months of its release.

It wasn't intended as a book for children. It was to raise awareness and sympathy for the care and humane treatment of horses. I have never owned a horse,just ridden a bit. But her story of Black Beauty's world is riveting and quite sad much of the time.

She really got under the skin (in a good way) of horses. If you read this book,as I should have long ago,you come away with an appreciation of horses,that's for sure. I hope that horses to day don't have to go through all the miseries of the fictional Black Beauty. Sewell graphically describes the blinkers,bits,bridle,whips and especially the horrible bearing reins that were all too common in 19th century England.

 

The Language of God, by Francis Collins. Great book so far, through the initial early chapters.

 

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman. I read the book primarily because it is set in Prague and Terezín, the Nazi concentration camp in the Czech Republic.

 

"Shrouded in Silence" by Robert L. Wise. A story about the search for the lost, original ending of the book of Mark. An intriguing premise let down by shoddy pacing, unreal characters, and stilted dialogue. I'm about a third of the way through it can't I'll probably set it aside and never finish it.

 

I have just finished this. It was very interesting. Hauerwas was born into a family of bricklayers, his father and his uncles. He became a bricklayer himself until he went to college. He taught at Notre Dame for a number of years and is now at Duke Divinity School. He describes himself as a radical theologian. I have read many of his books, and I have always been impressed by his ideas which do not always follow expected paths. In the memoir I was impressed by his involvement with his church. He told about the second home that he and his wife bought "to get away". They finally sold it because they could not find time to get away from their church on weekends. I would recommend this book highly.

Tim Reynolds

 

Crashing the Idols: The Vocation of Will D. Campbell (and any other Christian for that matter), by Will D. Campbell and Richard C. Goode. The book contains three sections. First is a short biographical section on Will Campbell. Goode calls it an "interpretive preamble". Part 2 is a republication of Campbell's book Race and the Renewal of the Church from 1962. Part 3 is a collection of essays by Goode on the place of Will Campbell in American religious history and in, more specifically, Soputhern religious history.

Tim Reynolds