Summer Reading

I mentioned in my post It Must Be Nice that one of the best parts of summer was reading for pleasure.  Since it has been far to hot to do a lot of walking (or really going outside in any way at all), I have done A LOT of that this summer.  Since I go back to school this week, my reading for pleasure will have to significantly decrease.  Here's what I've gotten to enjoy this summer.

Even during the summer, teachers read about school.  

1.  I checked Reality is Broken was a recommendation from our Technology Coach.  I can't say I loved it quite as much as she does (and I'm always skeptical of books that promise to "make us better"), but I did get some valuable insight into the thinking process of gamers.  

2.  I ordered The Way They Learn when I was at a seminar and saw Cynthia Tobias speak.  I've been teaching long enough to know learning styles, but Cynthia is great about giving practical advice you might not have read before.  It's worth the read just to hear her stories (although those are better live because her delivery is fantastic - I wonder if she does her own audio books).  

3.  Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer was assigned by the school as summer reading.  It's the best book they have ever assigned us to read.  I now have another of his books, The Cost of Discipleship, on my reading list for the future.  

A couple of years ago, my mom gave me the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for my birthday.  There are 57 short stories and 3 novels.  Early on, I decided that I would enjoy the experience more if I didn't binge on them.  I tend to alternate Sherlock stories within all of my other book reading.  In this way, I can enjoy "new" ones for years.  I will admit to reading the "Empty House" immediately upon finishing "The Final Problem" because I couldn't stand leaving Mr. Holmes dead at the bottom of a cliff.  Reading these has given me an even greater appreciate for the brilliant BBC series that I already loved.  Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis have taken elements from these stories and made really fun and quirky allusions to them in the show.  The show is enjoyable without knowing them, but recognizing them in the episodes makes for richer repeat viewing.  It has also made reading the books for the first time really fun because as soon as I come upon a little item, I can stop and say, "Oh, I see what they did there."  I recommend Sherlock Holmes to anyone who loves reading.

I started listening to R.C. Sproul on the radio a few years ago.  When I purchased a Reformation Study Bible, it came with some Free e-books.  These are two of them.  I am currently in chapter two of Believing God: Twelve Biblical Promises Christians Struggle to Accept by his son, R.C. Sproul, Jr.  What I appreciate about both is that they tackle very complex topics, but they explain them in ways that are accessible to the average reader.  Unlike a lot of theological writings, I don't feel like I need a seminary degree to deal with their writing.  Search just about any theological question you have on  www.ligonier.org and they will likely have a book or essay that addresses you question.

I didn't intend to let the Harry Potter franchise pass me by; it wasn't a decision or anything.  I had just never gotten around to reading them.  Last year, I had to admit to a couple of freshmen that I had neither read them nor see the movies.  They - were - horrified.  One of them had to get up and walk it off in my classroom.  I promised her that I would start reading them this summer and that I would finish by the time she graduated.  Well, they were a lot quicker reading than I was expecting, so I actually got through the first five.  I have also now seen the first five movies.  I am slightly bothered that the books got better with each reading but the movies peaked at number 3.  The director left so much out of 4 and 5 that I was disappointed by the things I was missing.  Anyway, thank you to Caroline for getting me to read these.  It may be next summer before I can read the other two, but I will greatly look forward to them.

The author of this book was a freshman in the first school I taught at in Oklahoma.  Her dad was also my pastor.  We are now seventeen years later, and she has become a wife and mother of two.  Her daughter has Down's Syndrome, and this book is about the journey from the shock of diagnosis to the understanding that God's sovereignty placed this child in her home for a reason.  If you know someone with a special needs child, I recommend this book.

We now live in the world of pragmatism.  If you read my blog, you know that I hate the cliche, "It is what it is."  We also live in the age of "slacktivism," believing that using a hashtag is the same as doing something or that they are philanthropists if they dump ice on their heads.  We don't have a lot of people who truly fight for right in the modern world.  For that reason, I chose to read about these two great men of the past.  

1.  I had seen the film version of Amazing Grace, but the book by Eric Metaxas gives so much more detail that it is an even more inspiring story.  William Wilberforce did not drop his cause when it became difficult or even when it cost him his health.  He devoted his life to ending the slave trade.  He pounded at what seemed futile for decades, and we owe him a great debt.  

2.  Do you have an English translation of the Bible in your house?  Chances are that you have more than one.  You take it for granted that an English speaking person would have access to the Bible in their own language.  You probably don't know that the reason you have it is because some very brave men gave their lives for it.  The  British government was so intent that no one have an English Bible that they passed a law, making it illegal for anyone to write or print a new book without official approval.  Was this a misdemeanor for which you would be slapped on the wrist or fined?  No.  According to the law, "an offender would be marked with a red-hot iron, and his eyes would be plucked out of his head or his hands cut off."  Knowing this, William Tyndale hid during the time he was translating the New Testament from the original Greek and teaching himself Hebrew so that he could translate the Old Testament faithfully as well.  He was caught and executed before he could complete his work, so other brave men took up the cause.  We think we have sacrificed when people look at us strangely for praying at meal times, but these people knowingly risked their lives.  

Endurance - Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing as recommended to me by the head of our English department in response to a Shackleton quote I retweeted.  She knows books, and she said she thought he was one of the greatest meant of the twentieth century.  After reading this book, I would have to agree.  First of all, it is a non-fiction book, but it reads like a novel.  As I was reading it, I kept thinking, "If this isn't a movie, it should be."  I have just learned that there are two movies, one with Kenneth Brannagh and one with Liam Niesen, so I will soon be ordering one or both of those from Amazon as soon as I finish this post.  I couldn't believe how many thing happened to these men.  I kept reminding myself that these were, in fact, real people and not just book characters.  It is excellent.

After I have finished Believing God, I plan to read a book that has been sitting on my nightstand for years, My Vision for Mars by Buzz Aldrin.