What are You Currently Reading?

[IANMO(IAMNTMYOWN)]

Competent to Counsel by J. E. Adams.
Why Christians Can't Trust Psychology by Ed Bulkley, Ph.D.
The Craft of Revision by Oswald M. Murray

 

[Crabtownboy]

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

I had never gotten around to reading this classic and decided now was the time. Flaubert was arrested when the book was published as the story was very shocking at that time. After his acquittal the book became very popular and has remained required reading in many literature classes to this day. Flaubert said he always searched for the perfect work in every sentence.

This is the story of a lonely, frustrated, bored housewife whose husband pretty much ignores her. She enters adulteress affairs searching for some meaning in her life. Falubert had a deep understanding of the inner needs that all people carry within them. There are lessons to be learned in this book, especially for husbands.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Army Letters from an Officer's Wife 1871-1888

Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871-1888
Frances Rowe

This is a very interesting volume containing informative letters written by Frances Rowe during the years shown in the title. The majority of these years she and her husband lived in Army posts in the American West.

Here is an example from the book.

"There appeared from the bushes in front of me, and right in the path, two immense gray wolves . . . Rollo saw them and stopped instantly, giving deep sighs, preparing to snort, I knew . . . To give myself courage, I talked to the horse, slowly turning him around . . . when out of the bushes in front of us, there came a third wolf! The situation was not pleasant and without stopping to think, I said ‘Rollo, we must run him down - now do your best’ and taking a firm hold of the bridle, and bracing myself in the saddle, I struck the horse with my whip and gave an awful scream. . .”

You can download and listen to this book at:
http://librivox.org/army-letters-from-an-officers-wife-1871-1888-by-frances-m-a-roe/

You can also download it and read it from:

http://manybooks.net/titles/roefrancetext04rmlfw10.html

Both are free of charge.

 

[shodan]

Re-reading The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

Foundations for Reconstruction, by Elton Trueblood

 

[mont974x4]

With Calvin in the Theater of God

 

[IANMO(IAMNTMYOWN)]

No Longer a Slumdog by K.P. Yohannan and Columbine and the Search for America's Soul: Day of Reckoning by Wendy Murray Zoba.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Kidnapped by Robert Lewis Stevenson.

This is a book that somehow I never got around to reading. Now I can add it to my list of books read.

Good read. Gives some information on the Jacobite's in Scotland.

 

[ktn4eg]

One B1g [sic] Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do, by Phil Cooke

Read the Bible For LIFE: Your Guide to Understanding & Living God's Word, by George H. Guthrie

Reasons for Faith: Making a Case for the Christian Faith, Norman L. Geisler & Chad V. Meister (eds.)

 

[Jack Matthews]

I picked up a book about five years ago, Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found my Faith by Martha Beck. I didn't know much about the Mormons, and Mitt Romney's candidacy for the presidency prompted me to do some reading and study. I read it at the time, and came back to it again about a year ago. You know how you pick things up from a book the second time through that you missed the first time.

This one isn't going to make you feel warm and fuzzy, with a testimony of coming to Jesus at the end. It will give you insights into what Mormons believe, those who are deep into the traditions and practices of the faith, not just the average convert. Beck's journey out of Mormonism is typical of those who leave the church. They don't generally convert to Christianity. Given the general ignorance about Mormons among evangelicals, this would be a good way to get some insights.

 

[Timsings]

Standing by Words: Essays by Wendell Berry. This book was originally published in 1983. I'm just getting to it. The title essay considers the decline in the quality of our language. I suspect Berry would say that things have deteriorated even more in the intervening years.

Tim Reynolds

 

[SovereignMercy]

The Perfect Shepherd: Studies in the 23rd Psalm. John Davis.

 

[Crabtownboy]

At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA by George Tenet.

 

[menageriekeeper]

How is the Tenet book, CTB?

I just finished "Detroit, An American Autopsy" by Charlie LeDuff. It's sad to see the depths that Detroit has sunk too in the last 30-40 years. I was born right outside the city in Royal Oak and have several relatives still living in Michigan but they all left Detroit years ago when all the corruption was first having its affect.

 

[Crabtownboy]

How is the Tenet book, CTB?

I just finished "Detroit, An American Autopsy" by Charlie LeDuff. It's sad to see the depths that Detroit has sunk too in the last 30-40 years. I was born right outside the city in Royal Oak and have several relatives still living in Michigan but they all left Detroit years ago when all the corruption was first having its affect.

Parts of the book were very interesting. I became a bit bored with the length of his defenses basically saying that this and that "mess" was not my fault nor the fault of the CIA. This is a common feature I have found in books by people who were parts of various administrations. Making self look good is a very human trait ... but it often makes for not the most interesting reading.

Of course there were many areas he mentioned, but could not give information on for obvious natural security reasons or to protect people still in the field.

 

[Deacon]

The Lost World of the Torah, Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context
by John H. Walton. 2019.

"In relatively recent history (post-Reformation), a major change took place in how people thought about law. People grew to think of law as codified legislation that is coercive in nature. The documents of this legislation were considered prescriptive in nature and imposed an obligation on people. Consequently, today we think of law as reflected in a legal code. Furthermore, we tend to be so confident in this way of thinking that we do not remember or realize that it was not always this way or even that there could be other ways of thinking.

In contrast, prior to a couple of centuries ago (and still not uncommon in non-Western cultures), law was more flexible. Society was regulated by customs and norms that had taken shape beyond memory. Judges, who were those considered wise in the traditions of the culture rather than those who were specially educated, made their rulings based on their insight and wisdom. Any documents pertaining to law in those cultures were not codified legislation; that is, they were not prescriptive documents establishing law. Instead they described rulings (whether through actual verdicts or hypothetical examples)—reporting decisions".
Walton, John H., and J. Harvey Walton. 2019. The Lost World of the Torah: Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press.