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Riverside Talks

Riverside Talks: A Friendly Dialogue Between an Atheist and a Christian

At first, I wasn't even going to post a blog about this book, but then decided that this site should be non-biased and post good and bad reviews. But hey, not too bad that I've enjoyed virtually every book I've read since we started this blog, eh?

While I have immense respect for Luis Palau and believe that this is an important book to encourage conversations between different faiths and non-faiths, I didn't really enjoy this book at all. It just doesn't have much fresh insight or depth for mature believers (nor do I think it necessarily should). Kind of weird, huh? I think it is a good book, but I don't like it and don't recommend it.

Here is the most interesting part: when I went to amazon to get the link (like I do for every book) I found an amazing thing. It was not widely printed in English (as a matter of fact it was hard to get a copy) and it is selling used on amazon for $250! So the question is, should I try to sell it for $200 and use the money to buy more books or should I hold onto it for a while in hopes that the price will continue to increase? Unless of course you are still interested in it after this review and realize that there is little hope that you could actually get a copy (which, as an avid book reader I think would be really sad) and I will send it to you as long as you promise not to sell it yourself. Let me know what you think.

-L

Into Thin Air

The reason I read this book has a history that started a little over two years ago. On a trip to the dentist to get her wisdom teeth removed, A picked up a copy of Outside Magazine in the waiting room. She really enjoyed the few articles she read before being called to the back and sedated. Little did I know how much she enjoyed them! A month or so later as a reward for finishing a big project, I promised to buy her a subscription to a magazine of her choice (she had been begging for a subscription to a quilting magazine). To my surprise she decided on Outside! Since the first one came in the mail we have been faithful readers of just about every article.

Sometimes a story makes references to past historic or tragic events in adventure sport history that go over our heads. A whole edition was recently published rehashing the mysterious events surrounding a 1996 expedition up Mount Everest, made popular by Into Thin Air. I enjoyed the articles so much, I decided I had to read the book to get the full picture. While this book is a deviation from much of my usual reading (this may be my first memoir), I enjoyed it a lot. Come to think of it, I read Guns, Germs, and Steel because of a recommendation by Outside too. I recommend the book to those of you who enjoy backpacking and adventure related memoirs.

-L

Bono: In conversation with Michka Assayas

Anyone who has done any amount of current event research on world poverty has seen Bono's name and stubby mug at almost every turn. Aside from the fact that he is an incredible musician, I admire that he has done arguably more than anyone in our generation to alleviate poverty around the world. When a friend of ours spent a week with us last semester he was in the middle of reading this...not really autobiography, but book length interview. I flipped somewhere to the middle, started reading, and couldn't put it down. I recommend this book to anyone interested in: Bono's life, the Christi@n life contextualized, world poverty, grace, or the band U2. Though I feel like most of the time the atheist French interviewer is speaking a different language, the words of Bono on the page were refreshing, exciting, and interesting. I wouldn't call Bono humble (or prideful either really), the characteristic that comes through that I most admire is transparency and an overall positive attitude. Though he deals with many heads of states, most of whom wish he would just go away, he didn't have a bad thing to say about any of them, choosing instead to praise their better qualities. One of my favorite parts of the book is when he gives a clear presentation of the gospel (complete with expletives), here is part of it: "...if Karma was going to be my judge, I'd be in deep s#$%. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jes*s took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."

If you are interested in the work Bono is doing around the world, this is a good place to start. I recently read an article about a speech he gave (I think at Rick Warren's fellowship). The journalist interviewed a pastor who said, "I came wondering if Bono was a Christi@n and left wondering if I was." That made me chuckle.

-L

Christmas Books

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to not buy a new book until I have read ten books that I already own. This resolution should be extremely easy to keep though since my parents brought so many new books for us when they came for Christmas. Here is a list of our new books in no particular order (some were Christmas presents from various family members, some we have borrowed from various family members, some we ordered from Amazon, and two are presents from my co-worker, Ryan):

1421
River Town
Practical English Usage
Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas
The Wonder of the World
Jarhead
Keep Talking
You’re Going to Wear That?
Treasuring God in Our Traditions
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
What’s Going on in There?
The Family of Adoption
The Quiet American
The Sun Also Rises
When I Don’t Desire God
Quilted With Love
If There is No God…
Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places
The Compassionate Life
Heaven
Future Grace
The Mother
Love Busters

I have already read Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman which was a gift from my Uncle Jim, Aunt Lisa and family. I was first introduced to Anne Fadiman’s writing when my Aunt Lisa loaned me The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. It was an incredible book documenting the true story of a Hmong family living in California and their dealings with the public health system and I highly recommend it. Her newest book, Ex Libris, is a compilation of essays about her love of reading and books. I totally identified. Reading this book made me feel like I was eating chocolate.

~A

Are You Really Going to Eat That?

L and I both love to read but our tastes tend to be a bit different. I love fiction and memoirs while he generally sticks to more serious non-fiction. A few weeks ago I told him that he could pick the next book I read. He chose Are You Really Going to Eat That? by Robb Walsh which he had just finished. When I first saw the title I thought that it was just going to be a boring book about disgusting food but my initial impressions were far off and now I can hardly put the book down. Robb Walsh has been a food critique for years and in this book he complies some of the articles he has written for various magazines and newspapers.

The part that I find interesting is that instead of merely writing about food, he researches the history behind the food and the people that make it. For example, in the chapter titled Seeking Le Truffe, we met a truffle hunter who did not want his real name to be published because “disastrous consequences befall farmers foolish enough to speak publicly about truffles,” and a mycologist name Dr. Jim Trappe who is a leading authority on truffle taxonomy. Reading about someone eating truffles at a fancy restaurant would have put me to sleep, but I was fascinated to learn about the underground truffle industry, the truffle black market and the dogs that hunt truffles.

Another part of this book that I enjoy is that Walsh is a Texan. The chapters about Texan BBQ, Tex-Mex and chicken fried steak struck especially close to home. When L was reading the book he read me the chapter about chicken fried steak. Walsh writes, “first you cut off a nice big chunk of steaming meat with plenty of batter, then put some potatoes on top with your knife…Now lower the whole forkful directly into the gravy bowl for drenching...” The next night we hopped in a taxi to go to one of the three restaurants in our city that we knew served chicken fried steak. My mind knew that it couldn’t compare to chicken friend steak at home, yet after living overseas for five months, it had never tasted so good.

~A

Our Local Barnes and Noble

Book the Thirteenth

Friday, October 13th, is a very important day in literary circles...the last Series of Unfortunate Events book is being released. This day has been on my calendar for a year and my sister is buying the book and then shipping it to me asap. I have to admit that I am gettng a little worried about the ending though since Lemony Snicket has repeatedly warned his readers that this is a horrible story and should be avoided at all costs. But, being a optimist at heart, I have continued reading hoping that in the end the children will be reunited with their parents and Count Olaf will experience some sort of unfortunate event...

~A (as if L would ever write a post like this!)

Book Update

Since being here I have realized that there are two types of English books that are extremely easy to find...Harry Potter and the classics (Dickens, Bronte, Austen, etc). Since I'm not a Harry Potter fan, I have been reading the classics. Yesterday I bought an English copy of Jane Eyre from a man who was selling books off of a cart that was on the back of his bicycle!

Last week I stayed up until 3:15am so that I could finish Great Expectations and discovered two important things:

1. Unless there is some sort of serious reason, I should never attempt to stay up until 3:15 in the morning. My college days are definitely over.

2. Finishing a Charles Dickens book is reason enough to stay up that late. What a wonderful book! I have read other Dickens' books before but I think that this was my favorite. In the beginning I absolutely hated the main character, Pip, but he undergoes such a dramatic change throughout the course of the novel, it is definitely worth the read.

~A

Humility: True Greatness

In June I was able to spend a day with one of my former roommates from HPU, Erica. It was a very hard day for me because I had been to one of my 7th grade students' memorial services the night before. My student, Tiffany, had died in a car accident because she was not wearing her seatbelt when a tire blew and flipped the car. I was devastated at the loss, but Erica was such an encouragement. She shared with me some things she had been learning and gave me a book she had just finished, Humility by CS Mahaney. I admit that when I first started this book I didn't think I would post a blog about it because it seems prideful to admit you are reading a book on humility! But, as I have spent time reading it, I have been so encouraged that I wanted to recommend it to others.

The book is split into three sections:
1. Our Greatest Friend, Our Greatest Enemy (The Battle of Humility Versus Pride)
2. The Great Reversal (Our Savior and the Secret of True Greatness)
3. Our Great Pursuit (The Practice of True Humility)

The third section offers many practical suggestions and includes things to do on a daily basis as well as books to read and biblical themes to study. Two chapters, Identifying Evidences of Grace and Encouraging Others, have been especially challenging to me. I know that these are things I need to work on...not only because of the words on the page but because I have experienced the incredible benefits of its practice. On one of the hardest days in my life, Erica spoke of the evidences of grace she saw in me and encouraged me with words that are good for building up (Ephesians 4:29). Her humility began to heal my heart. It was a beautiful expression of God's plan for His church to work together to strengthen one another and one that can only happen when pride is absent and people are dependant on the cross.

~A

The Roots of Endurance

Before we left a family friend gave us The Roots of Endurance by John Piper. It is a biography of three men - John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce - that are models of perseverance. (This is actually his third book in a series of biographies.) I started reading it on the plane and quickly realized what a timely word this was for me.

John Newton is best known as the author of the hymn Amazing Grace. What I did not know is he was also a pastor for 43 years. He showed perseverance in the way he steadfastly loved his flock, children, and even those who opposed him.

Charles Simeon was a pastor at the same church for 54 years. In the beginning of his ministry the pew-holding members of the congregation locked their pews and refused to come for twelve years! Other members of the congregation had to sit in the aisles. He persevered through this and went on to have a very long and fulfilling ministry.

William Wilberforce was a member of Parliament and worked for 46 years to abolish slavery. Through his work slavery was abolished three days before he died.

I am impressed by these men and their desire to stay in situations that seemed hopeless. I'm not sure I would have the perseverance to stay in the situations these men faced, but I know that I need to. By listening to John Piper's reflections on their words and lives, I have been encouraged to endure. I would highly recommend this book, as well as the others in the series. It is a relatively short read (160 pages), but an important one.