So, this year I decided to read non-fiction for the whole summer. It's definitely my favorite thing to read and I had SO much non-fiction on my to-read list that it made sense to kind of clear that out and enjoy my summer of non-fiction. Here is all the non-fiction I read in July:
Lessons in Belonging from a Church-going Commitment Phobe by Erin S. Lane
I really wanted to like this one, but I just could NOT relate to the author much at all. I do understand how hard it can be to find a church, especially for a woman who's a Christian AND a feminist. But, I just couldn't get past her not wanting to attend the church where her husband is a pastor. I really wondered about what the staff at his church thought of that and how hard that was for him. Basically, most of this book was her complaining about various church-related issues/theology/etc. that she didn't agree with. She also seemed like she was ALWAYS looking for said issues/theology she didn't agree with/etc. Churches are full of people who will always fail at being like Christ, but God won't fail you. I just didn't enjoy her constant whining about everything.
There were two quotes I did really like:
[Parker Palmer in the introduction] "Like most of us, I belong to a variety of communities: family, clusters of friends and colleagues, a religious community, a civic community. But unlike most people, I spent eleven years living in a so-called intentional community, where I shared a daily round of worship, work, study, social action, decision-making and common meals with some eighty people. At the end of my first year, I came up with Palmer's Definition of Community: 'Community is that place where the person you least want to live with always lives.' At the end of my second year, I came up with Palmer's Corollary to Palmer's Definition: 'And when that person moves away, someone else arises immediately to take his or her place.'" (p. 11-12)
"It was a relief to find people at college who shared my faith values, but I was perplexed by some of the gendered values that came with it. I didn't know being mad was a character flaw in a woman." (p. 66)
There were two quotes I did really like:
[Parker Palmer in the introduction] "Like most of us, I belong to a variety of communities: family, clusters of friends and colleagues, a religious community, a civic community. But unlike most people, I spent eleven years living in a so-called intentional community, where I shared a daily round of worship, work, study, social action, decision-making and common meals with some eighty people. At the end of my first year, I came up with Palmer's Definition of Community: 'Community is that place where the person you least want to live with always lives.' At the end of my second year, I came up with Palmer's Corollary to Palmer's Definition: 'And when that person moves away, someone else arises immediately to take his or her place.'" (p. 11-12)
"It was a relief to find people at college who shared my faith values, but I was perplexed by some of the gendered values that came with it. I didn't know being mad was a character flaw in a woman." (p. 66)
Big Girl: How I gave up Dieting and Got a Life by Kelsey Miller
Kelsey Miller always struggled with her weight. She went on her first official diet at 11 and that started the cycle of dieting and gaining back whatever weight she lost, plus more, which continued until she was almost 30. At 29 she had an epiphany that dieting wasn't working. She bought the bookIntuitive Eating and found an intuitive eating coach and decided to document her journey for the online magazine she worked for. As Kelsey documents her non-diet, she also goes back and shares pivotal moments from growing up and it's easy to see why she struggled with her weight - her family is extremely dysfunctional and chaotic. While all this sounds pretty heavy, she tells her story with laugh-out-loud humor and wit. Her story is one I'm sure many people can relate to, but even if you can't her story is very inspiring and will definitely make you think more about what you eat and why.
"The best part of being on a diet is knowing it will end. I don't mean the part where the whole thing falls apart and you find yourself whispering on the phone with the Chinese place, calling in dumplings like a mob hit. I mean the 'after' shot. We think we're running toward a goal weight, but really, we're not running toward anything so much as running away from that 'before'...The day I quit dieting was the day I gave up on 'after,' and what a great relief it was. But it took me almost a year for me to realize that there's no escaping my 'before.' All that history is in me...When I stopped trying so desperately to starve and burn 'before' away, I finally got to participate in right now. That baggage wasn't going anywhere. So, I'd just have to bring it with me." (p. 267-8)
"The best part of being on a diet is knowing it will end. I don't mean the part where the whole thing falls apart and you find yourself whispering on the phone with the Chinese place, calling in dumplings like a mob hit. I mean the 'after' shot. We think we're running toward a goal weight, but really, we're not running toward anything so much as running away from that 'before'...The day I quit dieting was the day I gave up on 'after,' and what a great relief it was. But it took me almost a year for me to realize that there's no escaping my 'before.' All that history is in me...When I stopped trying so desperately to starve and burn 'before' away, I finally got to participate in right now. That baggage wasn't going anywhere. So, I'd just have to bring it with me." (p. 267-8)
Bulletproof by Maci Bookout
After Perfect: a Daughter's Memoir by Christina McDowell
When Christina was a freshman in college her father was arrested on charges of fraud and without even realizing it her life completely changed that day - to before the arrest and after. Christina was the middle daughter of a successful lawyer and stay-at-home mom. Their family was in the 1% of wealthiest people in the US - they lived in a huge home, traveled the world, summered in Nantuckett, and were friends with many celebrities. But, as Christina would find out, all that was a sham. Even after her father's arrest it took Christina YEARS before she finally realized he was never going to come back and rescue her. Unfortunately, her family didn't deal with the situation well and there was a lot of denial, including her parents opening credit in her name and leaving her with over $100,000 in debt at the age of 19. Christina turned to alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity to numb herself to her reality. It took almost 10 years for her to hit rock bottom and then finally start to climb out again. Some of the reviews I read said that she was a spoiled rich girl complaining about not having access to unlimited money anymore, but to me it was obvious that her whole identity was rocked when she realized her parents were selfish thieves who would continue to use her if she let them - that's not an easy thing to come to terms with. Obviously she didn't handle it in the best way and there were a few painful chapters of her downward spiral that were painful to read. But, she did manage to get herself back on track and the last few chapters are really great when she starts working with The Center for Restorative Justice Works and starts helping other people affected by incarceration in their families. Overall, if you can get past the section with her self-destruction, it's definitely an interesting read. I hope she writes another memoir in a few more years - I'd like to see what she does in the future.
Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
When stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld was approached by NBC about doing a sitcom, he immediately went to his friend and fellow comedian Larry David to hash out some ideas. The two would have never predicted that what came from their meeting and subsequent partnership would turn into the world-wide TV phenomenon that was Seinfeld. InSeinfeldia Armstrong explores not only the TV show Seinfeld, but also the cultural phenomenon that it turned into and still is today even though it's now been off the air longer than it was on (not counting re-runs). What I found the most interesting is that literally EVERY episode is based on something that really happened to someone - including Festivus! Many of the characters on the show were based on real people and many characters names were real names of writers or friends of the writers like Joe Davola and Alec Berg.
Armstrong also covers the insanity of Seinfeld's popularity and how basically no one thought it would do much in the beginning so the writers did whatever they wanted, then when it became so popular no one even wanted to try to hold them back. The only darker side is that they would basically fire all the writers at the end of every season in order to get a new batch of experiences to pull from for the show. Also, because of the constant writing and editing for each episode the writers worked almost constantly. Seinfeld became one of the hottest shows to work for and anyone who ever had was immediately hired by other networks who wanted the "next Seinfeld," which is an impossible task. Seinfeld is one of those things that had the right people in the right place at the right time to create a show that is just as funny today as it was when it originally aired - you can't re-create that.
If you are a Seinfeld fan this is a MUST READ!
"When Mehlman went out into the 'real world' beyond Seinfeld's office walls, he found that everyone in television wanted 'the next Seinfeld, but they didn't want to take any of the chances necessary to make such a thing. They wanted Seinfeld money, but they seemed to resent Seinfeld itself for breaking the rules of television. He would go in to pitch ideas to executives and hear, over and over, 'That character's not really likeable,' He'd thought Seinfeld had done away with likability. Seinfeld had even ruined his mother for all other sitcoms. Whenever she watched anything else, she said,'How does anybody think this is good?'" (p. 193)
Armstrong also covers the insanity of Seinfeld's popularity and how basically no one thought it would do much in the beginning so the writers did whatever they wanted, then when it became so popular no one even wanted to try to hold them back. The only darker side is that they would basically fire all the writers at the end of every season in order to get a new batch of experiences to pull from for the show. Also, because of the constant writing and editing for each episode the writers worked almost constantly. Seinfeld became one of the hottest shows to work for and anyone who ever had was immediately hired by other networks who wanted the "next Seinfeld," which is an impossible task. Seinfeld is one of those things that had the right people in the right place at the right time to create a show that is just as funny today as it was when it originally aired - you can't re-create that.
If you are a Seinfeld fan this is a MUST READ!
"When Mehlman went out into the 'real world' beyond Seinfeld's office walls, he found that everyone in television wanted 'the next Seinfeld, but they didn't want to take any of the chances necessary to make such a thing. They wanted Seinfeld money, but they seemed to resent Seinfeld itself for breaking the rules of television. He would go in to pitch ideas to executives and hear, over and over, 'That character's not really likeable,' He'd thought Seinfeld had done away with likability. Seinfeld had even ruined his mother for all other sitcoms. Whenever she watched anything else, she said,'How does anybody think this is good?'" (p. 193)
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
This book is very long at 542 pages, but it is well worth the time it takes to read it. I was familiar with Bonhoeffer as a Christian theologian, but this book really fleshes out just how much of an impact he made both in his local community and throughout the world with his writings. He was pretty much a genius and his family was very intellectual - not many people were his intellectual or theological peer. Probably the most amazing thing about him is that as soon as the Nazi party emerged in Germany he almost prophetically knew how bad things would be for Germany if they continued on this path. As a devout Christian it might be hard to believe, but he was convinced that God wanted him to be involved in plots to kill Hitler. He worked as a spy and secret agent until his arrest and execution - he was executed just 2 weeks before Allied troops liberated the concentration camp where he was killed. But, he was never afraid of death and knew it was really only the beginning for him. Also, amazing is that he had the opportunity to escape to America right before things got really bad in Germany, and he chose to come back. He truly felt it was his Christian duty to be in Germany and help his country in any way he could - whether as a pastor or in the resistance as a spy. Overall, this is an amazing book that really sheds light on the powerful resistance movement and how much of it was sparked by Christians who refused to stand by in the face of pure evil.
Some quotes I really liked:
"His father and brothers thought that [becoming a pastor] would be a waste of his great intellect, but he often said that if one couldn't communicate the most profound ideas about God and the Bible to children, something was amiss." (p. 64)
"The music at Abyssinian formed an important part of his experience. Bonhoeffer searched New York record shops to find recordings of the 'negro spirituals' that had so come to transfix him every Sunday in Harlem. The joyous and transformative power of this music solidified his thinking on the importance of music to worship." (p. 109)
"Bonhoeffer's interest was not only in teaching them as a university lecturer. He wished to 'disciple' them in the true life of the Christian. This ran the gamut, from understanding current events through a biblical lens to reading the Bible not just as a theology student but as a disciple of Jesus Christ. This approach was unique among German university theologians of that era." (p. 128)
"What is at stake is by no means whether our German members of congregations can still tolerate church fellowship with the Jews. It is rather the task of Christian preaching to say: here is the church, where Jew and German stand together under the Word of God, here is the proof whether a church is still the church or not." (p. 150)
"The third way the church can act toward the state, he said, 'is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself.' The translation is awkward, but he meant that stick must be jammed into the spokes of the wheel to stop the vehicle. It is sometimes not enough to help those crushed by the evil actions of a state; at some point the church must directly take action against the state to stop it from perpetuating evil." (p. 154)
"'In those days,' Ruth-Alice recalled, 'the Nazis were always marching and saying, 'The future belongs to us! We are the future!' And we young ones who were against Hitler and the Nazis would hear this and we wondered, 'Where is our future?' But there in Finkenwalde, when I heard this man preaching, who had been captured by God, I thought: 'Here. Here is our future.'" (p. 277)
"I have had the time to think and to pray about my situation and that of my nation and to have God's will for me clarified. I have come to the conclusion that I have made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period of our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I shall have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share in the trials of this time with my people." (p. 321)
"Bonhoeffer was soon given privileges in the prison, sometimes because of who his uncle was, but more often because other in the unpleasant environment found him to be a source of comfort to them and wanted him around...Bonhoeffer was also allowed time alone in his cell with others, contrary to explicit orders. And he was allowed to spend a time in the sick bay where he functioned much like a prison pastor instead of a prisoner. In general, Bonhoeffer spent quite a bit of time working pastorally at Tegal, so much so that he sometimes even felt he was taking too much time away from his own writing and reading." (p. 448)
"So less than twenty-four hours before he left this world, Bonhoeffer performed the offices of a pastor. In the bright Schonberg schoolroom that was their cell, he held a small service...He had hardly finished the last prayer when the door opened [and he was escorted out]...We bade him good-bye - he drew me aside - 'This is the end,' he said. 'For me the beginning of life.'" (p. 528)
Some quotes I really liked:
"His father and brothers thought that [becoming a pastor] would be a waste of his great intellect, but he often said that if one couldn't communicate the most profound ideas about God and the Bible to children, something was amiss." (p. 64)
"The music at Abyssinian formed an important part of his experience. Bonhoeffer searched New York record shops to find recordings of the 'negro spirituals' that had so come to transfix him every Sunday in Harlem. The joyous and transformative power of this music solidified his thinking on the importance of music to worship." (p. 109)
"Bonhoeffer's interest was not only in teaching them as a university lecturer. He wished to 'disciple' them in the true life of the Christian. This ran the gamut, from understanding current events through a biblical lens to reading the Bible not just as a theology student but as a disciple of Jesus Christ. This approach was unique among German university theologians of that era." (p. 128)
"What is at stake is by no means whether our German members of congregations can still tolerate church fellowship with the Jews. It is rather the task of Christian preaching to say: here is the church, where Jew and German stand together under the Word of God, here is the proof whether a church is still the church or not." (p. 150)
"The third way the church can act toward the state, he said, 'is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself.' The translation is awkward, but he meant that stick must be jammed into the spokes of the wheel to stop the vehicle. It is sometimes not enough to help those crushed by the evil actions of a state; at some point the church must directly take action against the state to stop it from perpetuating evil." (p. 154)
"'In those days,' Ruth-Alice recalled, 'the Nazis were always marching and saying, 'The future belongs to us! We are the future!' And we young ones who were against Hitler and the Nazis would hear this and we wondered, 'Where is our future?' But there in Finkenwalde, when I heard this man preaching, who had been captured by God, I thought: 'Here. Here is our future.'" (p. 277)
"I have had the time to think and to pray about my situation and that of my nation and to have God's will for me clarified. I have come to the conclusion that I have made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period of our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I shall have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share in the trials of this time with my people." (p. 321)
"Bonhoeffer was soon given privileges in the prison, sometimes because of who his uncle was, but more often because other in the unpleasant environment found him to be a source of comfort to them and wanted him around...Bonhoeffer was also allowed time alone in his cell with others, contrary to explicit orders. And he was allowed to spend a time in the sick bay where he functioned much like a prison pastor instead of a prisoner. In general, Bonhoeffer spent quite a bit of time working pastorally at Tegal, so much so that he sometimes even felt he was taking too much time away from his own writing and reading." (p. 448)
"So less than twenty-four hours before he left this world, Bonhoeffer performed the offices of a pastor. In the bright Schonberg schoolroom that was their cell, he held a small service...He had hardly finished the last prayer when the door opened [and he was escorted out]...We bade him good-bye - he drew me aside - 'This is the end,' he said. 'For me the beginning of life.'" (p. 528)
The Reason: How I Discovered a Life Worth Living by Lacey Sturm
I love Lacey's music with both Flyleaf and her newer solo stuff. I knew a little about her personal faith story and was always blown away watching her perform in clubs and basically preach between songs. This book tells more of her story and how she went from being suicidal to fully committed to God. She is really honest with what her life was like before God, but without going into too much detail. She is obviously anointed by God and she has committed her life to glorifying Him and trying to reach people who don't even want to be reached with her own story of life change. If you ever have the chance to see her perform live - take it! She is unbelievably gifted musically and spiritually. Her music is so powerful and it's amazing to see so much come out of this tiny woman! My only small complaints would be I wish she had explained some parts of her story a little more - in the second half of the book it seems to jump forward pretty quickly and it sometimes left you wondering what was glossed over. But, overall a great story and quick read. She is really amazing and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next.
Some quotes I really liked:
"There is something about music that opens up your soul to understand, to meditate on something, to taste the spiritual significance of the world around you." (p. 3 of chap. 13)
"There were so many things in my heart that were healed during times of worship in church. I laid out many dark lies in my heart before God's light, so that he could shine on them and expose them for what they were: lies about my identity, my self-worth, my orphaned feelings. I laid so many anxieties to rest. It was here in these moments that I felt free to open my hands, in a sense. It was as if I no longer had to hang on to anything. I didn't have to control or manipulate anything or anyone. I didn't have to defend myself or be afraid of anything." (p. 10 of chap. 13)
"My driving desire to start a band and play the music beating in my heart came from the fact that so much of my life had been changed while I encountered the Spirit of God during the worship music in church. I thought if I could bring that experience into a bar, people would experience a longing to live their lives to the full potential for which they were created. If I could play loud enough and sing honestly enough with all my heart to God, about what he had done in my life to save me from suicide and death and hell, then God would show up in such a tangible way." (p. 2 of chap. 14)
"The reason we wanted a label that would market us to radio that had no regard for Jesus at all, and the reason we wanted to tour with bands who were atheistic and blasphemous in their lyrics, was because that's where I would find a hopeless girl like myself looking for her real purpose - someone like my sixteen-year-old self who had tremendous pain in her heart and was overwhelmingly tired of living the life she was living." (p. 2 of chap. 15)
Some quotes I really liked:
"There is something about music that opens up your soul to understand, to meditate on something, to taste the spiritual significance of the world around you." (p. 3 of chap. 13)
"There were so many things in my heart that were healed during times of worship in church. I laid out many dark lies in my heart before God's light, so that he could shine on them and expose them for what they were: lies about my identity, my self-worth, my orphaned feelings. I laid so many anxieties to rest. It was here in these moments that I felt free to open my hands, in a sense. It was as if I no longer had to hang on to anything. I didn't have to control or manipulate anything or anyone. I didn't have to defend myself or be afraid of anything." (p. 10 of chap. 13)
"My driving desire to start a band and play the music beating in my heart came from the fact that so much of my life had been changed while I encountered the Spirit of God during the worship music in church. I thought if I could bring that experience into a bar, people would experience a longing to live their lives to the full potential for which they were created. If I could play loud enough and sing honestly enough with all my heart to God, about what he had done in my life to save me from suicide and death and hell, then God would show up in such a tangible way." (p. 2 of chap. 14)
"The reason we wanted a label that would market us to radio that had no regard for Jesus at all, and the reason we wanted to tour with bands who were atheistic and blasphemous in their lyrics, was because that's where I would find a hopeless girl like myself looking for her real purpose - someone like my sixteen-year-old self who had tremendous pain in her heart and was overwhelmingly tired of living the life she was living." (p. 2 of chap. 15)
