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