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jonscott9's reviews
196 reviews
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller
4.0
Great anecdotes about Christian spirituality and relationships, well told and presented like a series of essays. It stays congruent, though. This is the one book Miller was born to write. Made me happy and sad, prone to rejoice or mourn, at some points, sometimes at once.
Venus Envy: A Sensational Season Inside the Women's Tennis Tour by L. Jon Wertheim
3.0
This book does exactly what it's intended to do. In that it gives fans of pro tennis (the women's game in particular) an insider's scoop on the 2000 season on the tour. Venus Williams takes center stage among other notables who need only first-name introductions: Martina, Serena, Anna, Monica, and other names ending in "-a."
The Hoosier-bred, Ivy-educated tennis scribe Wertheim provides enough locker-room fodder and backstory to keep the fan-reader involved, all while flexing his usual witty, literate writing muscles.
It's a quick, entertaining read.
The Hoosier-bred, Ivy-educated tennis scribe Wertheim provides enough locker-room fodder and backstory to keep the fan-reader involved, all while flexing his usual witty, literate writing muscles.
It's a quick, entertaining read.
Faith of My Fathers by John McCain, Mark Salter
4.0
This sharp, moving memoir is worth the read. McCain chronicles his years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi during the Vietnam War, and that's the most engaging part of this book. His father and grandfather were both four-star Navy generals, and McCain's affinity for the military life shines through. (It really is an interesting culture.) This is a solid read to learn more backstory of the two-time presidential contender's life, and he's of course not preachy about his politics. I admire him for his courage and resolve, and for being a man of principle.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
4.0
Maguire will probably never quite replicate the vision and passion behind this fictional account of Elphaba, the peculiar green girl born to residents on the outskirts of Oz who, due to nature and/or nuture, is much later branded the Wicked Witch of the West.
This is a prequel of sorts to the L. Frank Baum books ("El-Fa-Ba"--get it?) but stands on its own as a bawdy, intelligent romp with a social-political bent to it. Was Elphaba really a victim or an offender? Or both? University roommate Glinda's on board for this tale, which is told in some strikingly lush language. Some momentum is lost about two-thirds of the way through, but then it's on again in time for a Kansan girl and her three companions to pop in for the denouement.
This is a prequel of sorts to the L. Frank Baum books ("El-Fa-Ba"--get it?) but stands on its own as a bawdy, intelligent romp with a social-political bent to it. Was Elphaba really a victim or an offender? Or both? University roommate Glinda's on board for this tale, which is told in some strikingly lush language. Some momentum is lost about two-thirds of the way through, but then it's on again in time for a Kansan girl and her three companions to pop in for the denouement.
Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road by Donald Miller
3.0
If this book is in your hands, put it down and go read Kerouac's [b:On The Road|6288|The Road|Cormac McCarthy|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21E8H3D1JSL._SL75_.jpg|3355573] or something.
This book trips over Miller's overly detailed foibles on a cross-country road trip with a friend. One gag in particular late in the book is remarkably unfunny: Miller tries to embarrass his friend in front of their waitress at a diner, and the joke falls flat.
That'd be my one-word review maybe: flat. This book isn't necessary, nor was the retread to put it out again under this new title. (Previously called Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance--sound familiar?)
This book trips over Miller's overly detailed foibles on a cross-country road trip with a friend. One gag in particular late in the book is remarkably unfunny: Miller tries to embarrass his friend in front of their waitress at a diner, and the joke falls flat.
That'd be my one-word review maybe: flat. This book isn't necessary, nor was the retread to put it out again under this new title. (Previously called Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance--sound familiar?)
Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller
3.0
Here Miller again mines the 21st-century realm of Christian spirituality. His "lifeboat" analogy is engaging (you'd have to read it) but carries this book only so far. Still, it's a decent follow-up to Blue Like Jazz. Readable and thoughtful. He just stays too open-ended for my liking, touches on things or mentions them in passing, never to lay into them. Give me Chesterton or Lewis or Yancey.
The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out by Brennan Manning
4.0
Manning is a recovered alcoholic-turned-priest. The thoughts pressed into this book are literate, wise, and gentle. He is principled but not pushy. It really deserves a read. This, coupled with Yancey's What's So Amazing? book, helped me form a concept of grace for my life and the lives of those around me. I cherish it for that.
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
4.0
Probably the perfect little jam to get you through the holiday season with those loved ones. The opening essay "SantaLand Diaries" is blisteringly funny (I laughed out loud a few times) and tells of the author's run as a Macy's elf. Later, the mock family Christmas letter "Seasons Greetings To Our Friends and Family!!!" elicits guffaws with its dark suburban humor. The third story that I really liked of the six is "Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol," told from the perspective of a theater reviewer who opts to lacerate some children's Christmas shows. Well worth the quick read. I chuckled and chortled from start to finish.
The Giver by Lois Lowry
3.0
In a perfect, not-so-futuristic world, there is no pain. But is that world so perfect? There are also no emotions, no colors, and no love. No choices. Pubescent children pop pills to combat "stirrings." Adults are assigned compatible spouses, and children who becomes Twelves (years old) are assigned duties for the rest of their adult lives by the Elders. (Age is meaningless after 12.)
Jonas is appointed the next Receiver of Memories at his ceremony of Twelves. (I'm not ruining it; there was no doubt and it's on the back cover.) His predecessor begins to transmit scenes and feelings to his mind that flow with colors and warmth and very real joy and pain. But what to do with all this? Jonas has an important decision to make.
Lowry's book, which apparently everyone else read in middle school, was refreshingly simple to me at age 25. She tells a good story, one that makes you glad for the pains and difficult choices in life as they come hand in hand with all the happiness and goodness. For without deep sorrows, would we really have a concept of unbridled joy?
These 180 quick pages have a pleasing cadence to them.
Jonas is appointed the next Receiver of Memories at his ceremony of Twelves. (I'm not ruining it; there was no doubt and it's on the back cover.) His predecessor begins to transmit scenes and feelings to his mind that flow with colors and warmth and very real joy and pain. But what to do with all this? Jonas has an important decision to make.
Lowry's book, which apparently everyone else read in middle school, was refreshingly simple to me at age 25. She tells a good story, one that makes you glad for the pains and difficult choices in life as they come hand in hand with all the happiness and goodness. For without deep sorrows, would we really have a concept of unbridled joy?
These 180 quick pages have a pleasing cadence to them.
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri J.M. Nouwen
4.0
This was my introduction to Nouwen. I'd never have guessed that an Ivy League prof would write (or maybe even could write) such unadorned prose.
Nouwen witnessed the titular Rembrandt painting at a museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was transfixed by it. In this tome, he looks at the biblical story that provides the scene depicted, but he does it from the perspectives of all three central players: the prodigal son, his "Where's mine?"-crying brother, and the father. Each is treated to his own chapter, Nouwen going behind the eyes and then relating their takes on the situation to goings-on in his own life. He finds that, for better and worse, we resemble each of these men at different times in our lives.
His writing is warm and endearing. Can I say that it felt like this book was hugging me? It did. Nouwen leaves the rigorous theologizing to others, or to others books, and goes for the heart. He doesn't discount the head, though.
He is convincing when sharing of his respite at the L'Arch community for disabled people in Toronto, where he stayed until his death. In those sections he tells of how the mentally and physically handicapped there were prone to envelope him in physical affection, in effect hugging and loving the life back into him. Believe it.
(I look forward to reading The Wounded Healer next from him. In it he posits that "The only true healer is a wounded healer" when it comes to the fires of this life.)
Nouwen witnessed the titular Rembrandt painting at a museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was transfixed by it. In this tome, he looks at the biblical story that provides the scene depicted, but he does it from the perspectives of all three central players: the prodigal son, his "Where's mine?"-crying brother, and the father. Each is treated to his own chapter, Nouwen going behind the eyes and then relating their takes on the situation to goings-on in his own life. He finds that, for better and worse, we resemble each of these men at different times in our lives.
His writing is warm and endearing. Can I say that it felt like this book was hugging me? It did. Nouwen leaves the rigorous theologizing to others, or to others books, and goes for the heart. He doesn't discount the head, though.
He is convincing when sharing of his respite at the L'Arch community for disabled people in Toronto, where he stayed until his death. In those sections he tells of how the mentally and physically handicapped there were prone to envelope him in physical affection, in effect hugging and loving the life back into him. Believe it.
(I look forward to reading The Wounded Healer next from him. In it he posits that "The only true healer is a wounded healer" when it comes to the fires of this life.)