Book Reviews

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Book Review: Nothing to Wear? by Garza and Lupo

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What woman has not opened up her closet, surveyed its contents, and declared, “I have NOTHING to wear”?

And what woman, if she has declared this in the presence of a man or child, has not heard the response, “What are you talking about? Your closet is stuffed with clothes”?

Many a book attempts to help women out of this predicament–some helpfully, others not so helpfully. The majority of books within this category lay out a simple solution: Create a basic wardrobe where everything goes with everything and then accessorize from there.

Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo’s Nothing to Wear? offers this standard piece of advice–and gives a 5-step process for making it happen.

The five steps are:

  1. Define your style
  2. Edit your wardrobe
  3. Fill in the gaps
  4. Pull it all together
  5. Nurture the new you

I think the biggest advantage of this particular book’s approach to a wardrobe makeover is its first step. Defining your style consists of identifying your age group, your body type, your lifestyle, your arena, and your style type and then using that information to create a personal “style statement” that gives you a point of reference to use in evaluating your current wardrobe and any purchases.

A disadvantage to this book’s approach is that the authors recommend taking a great deal of dedicated time for making a wardrobe overhaul–and recommend purchasing several specialized closet organizers for the project. I don’t see the need for devoting so much time or money to such a project.

Of course, any wardrobe overhaul is going to take time–but I don’t think it has to be done in a single window of time, or that it needs to take as long as the authors of this book intimate.

I decided to reassess my wardrobe a couple of weeks ago and completed steps one and two in an afternoon. Now, admittedly, I might be a little more aware of my wardrobe and its quirks than many women are. For example, I didn’t have to try on many items during my “edit your wardrobe” step because I am already very aware of how each clothing item fits or doesn’t fit, flatters or doesn’t flatter, etc. So I spent most of my “editing” time holding up each item and evaluating how I felt it fit within the “style statement” I’d made for myself. From there, I divided my items into a giveaway pile (which I let my little sister “shop” in that evening), an alteration pile (for items that needed mending or tailoring or perhaps a complete makeover), a fabric scraps pile (for items in too poor of condition to give away, but which still had potential for quilting/sewing/crafting.) Clothes that could be kept were returned to my closet.

I am a bit anal-retentive, so as I returned each item to my closet, I logged it on an Excel spreadsheet. That meant that once my closet was complete (after 3 or 4 hours), I had a complete list of each article of clothing I owned. I categorized these by major categories and created a shopping list for myself (and a budget, since I’m that kind of person!) The next morning, I went shopping and completed step 3 in another 4 hours.

Total time for steps 1 through 3 and reading the entire book? Nine or ten hours. A far cry from what the book would suggest is necessary.

I also skipped step 4, which I thought was pretty extraneous. Step 4 consists of creating a collection of looks with your different separates and photographing yourself in them so that you can just pull out your personal “look book” and have a complete outfit ready to go in minutes. This might be useful for some people–but I find that I enjoy the spontaneity of creating different variations day by day. And since I set out my clothing for the next day as part of my evening rituals, I don’t have to worry about being pressed for time in the morning and ending up with a less-than-professional look.

In short, this book was pretty typical of its genre and perhaps a little too regimented to be of use to some people. Its great strength was the idea of creating a personal style sheet with which to evaluate your closet. Its great weakness was insisting on uninterrupted time and specialized closet organizers. If your library has a copy, I’d check it out and read through the first two steps, following the first to a T and using the second as a general guideline. But I wouldn’t buy this book.

Rating: 2 stars
Category: Fashion/Style
Synopsis: Two stylists talk about how to get your closet under control–so you never again have “Nothing to Wear”
Recommendation: First few chapters are interesting, first “step” is definitely worthwhile. The rest is ho-hum. Borrow it from your library and scan it, but don’t buy it.

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Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Dreaming of Dior” by Charlotte Smith

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Clothes horse. Fashion plate. Trendy. Style watcher.

Words you won’t hear used to describe me.

I’m a classic dresser, a fairly formal sort, with just a touch of whimsy. Unlike many women, I don’t generally take pleasure in clothes shopping and couldn’t care less about the latest styles.

But vintage clothing is one of my weaknesses.

I have dozens of dresses culled from used stores that I proudly wear. A 1940s gown, which I rarely have occasion to wear, not being used to formal dinners. A 1950s housewife’s dress. A 1960s Jackie O sheath. A shirt dress from the fifties or sixties. A maxi (that doesn’t quite make maxi status on me and is therefore slated for conversion to a modest “mini”) from the sixties/seventies. I just adore vintage.

So when I read Bermuda Onion’s review of Dreaming of Dior, I knew I wanted to take a look. Thankfully, my library had a copy and I snatched it right up.

The book contains illustrations of the stunning gowns from Doris Darnell’s collection–along with anecdotes about the former owners of each outfit. The illustrations alone are worth looking at–but the stories only make it better.

The stories feature a jet-setting crowd, traveling the world, meeting foreign dignitaries, dropping names left and right. It’s a world completely foreign to me, but one that I enjoy reading about nonetheless.

Many of the anecdotes reminded me of a favorite memoir of mine–Letitia Baldridge’s A Lady, First. I love those stories of diplomacy and etiquette and dinners that require fancy dress. Dreaming of Dior is just the sort of book for a story-loving, vintage-clothes-obsessed dreamer like myself.

Rating: 4 stars
Category: Fashion History
Synopsis: Charlotte Smith displays the fabulous collection of vintage outfits she inherited from her godmother–and tells the stories that go along with the gowns.
Recommendation: Lovely illustrations of lovely gowns with entertaining anecdotes to go along. This was a beautiful little book.

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Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “C.S. Lewis: The Chronicler of Narnia” by Mary Dodson Wade

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I consider juvenile nonfiction as my own personal version of Cliffs Notes (for those of you too young to remember the once ubiquitous yellow and black covered pamphlets, think a printed Spark Notes.) Whenever I want to get a general outline of a topic, a basic overview of an idea, or some interesting facts about something, I turn to the juvenile nonfiction section at my local library.

I was excited to see C.S. Lewis: The Chronicler of Narnia in the children’s nonfiction section when I was working on the Chronicles of Narnia reading challenge (all the way back in July!)

I generally enjoy biographies written for younger people because they tend to focus on the highlights rather than getting bogged down in the minutiae (as some adult biographies can.)

I discovered that Mary Dodson Wade’s biography did a good job at giving a classic overview of Lewis’s life. The author begins at the beginning with young Clive Staples renaming himself “Jacksie” and concludes with some of Lewis’ legacy. In a concise 83 pages, it offers an efficient, comprehensive biography.

My only peeve with the book is its title. With a subtitle like The Chronicler of Narnia, I would have expected the narrative to focus on events and ideas that specifically relate to the Chronicles of Narnia. It did no such thing.

Sure, the book opens with a quote from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader–but from there it gives no mention of Narnia until the second to last chapter (Chapter 13). While many other authors would discuss similarities and differences between Lewis’s childhood imaginary world Boxen and Narnia, Wade remains silent. While many other authors would muse on how Lewis’s love for myth or experience in the Great War or training in philosophy or comaraderie with the Inklings affected his writing of Narnia, this author does not. She does not mention Narnia until after she has told almost all of Lewis’ story and discussed all his other writings. Then and only then, she states “Lewis wrote seven fantasies for children” and begins to speak of the Chronicles.

This is where I find it hard to review this title. How can I assess such a book? It was well suited for the purpose for which I read it–that is, to give me a Cliff Notes on Lewis’s life so I wouldn’t have to work so hard while reading a more in-depth adult biography (I’m currently working on The Narnian by Alan Jacobs.) But as a biography in and of itself? It gets the job done. It tells the facts. But it has little artistry of form to recommend. Wade’s writing doesn’t pull me into Lewis’s world, it doesn’t fascinate me by establishing a meta-narrative in which to read his life, it doesn’t make any interpretations about who Lewis was. It’s just…the facts, nothing more.

Rating: 2 stars
Category: Children’s biography
Synopsis: Wade summarizes the major events in C.S. Lewis’ life, including his many writings.
Recommendation: The facts are there, the treatment pretty comprehensive–but this title lacks soul. If you want an encyclopedia entry-type coverage of Lewis, go ahead and read this. Otherwise, look elsewhere to learn who Lewis really was.

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Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Founding Faith” by Steven Waldman

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To listen to today’s secularists talk, one might get the impression that America’s founding fathers were ardent secularists, devoted to Enlightenment thinking, and irreligious if not antireligious. Conservative Christians tell a whole different story–a story that stars devoutly religious founding fathers who hold to an orthodox Christian faith.

Steven Waldman’s Founding Faith explores this controversial topic in a scholarly but still accessible manner. Waldman asserts that to lump “The Founding Fathers” together as though they all had the same views is a disservice to them. Instead, he explores the religious beliefs and actions of five “founding fathers” who were prominent in framing the debate for issues of religion and state.

Waldman explores the personal piety, personal and public writings, and public actions of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. He makes a good case for the plurality of religious beliefs among the founding fathers–as well as for the plurality of interpretations of how church and state should best interact.

I enjoyed Founding Faith tremendously, finding it to be a balanced, scholarly work that shines a great deal of light on the difficult question of what the Founding Fathers believed about religion in general and about state involvement in religion in particular.

I was interested to see the emphasis Waldman places on Madison as a primary framer of the “Establishment of Religion” clause. Waldman introduces Madison as a pious man, perhaps the most orthodox of the five men considered in this book. Unlike Jefferson, who primarily wanted separation of church from state for the sake of the state, Madison was interested in preserving the purity and vitality of the church from state intervention. Madison wished for an even more stringent separationist position–in part because of his sympathy for Virginian Baptists who decried the establishment of religion as oppressive to minority sects such as themselves.

As I said, this book is balanced and informative treatment of the faith of America’s founders and their views of how state and religion should interact. Lovers of history will enjoy this book–as will anyone who has ever been confused by contradictory reports of the Founders’ faith (or lack thereof).

Rating: 4 stars
Category: American History/Religion/Church and State
Synopsis: Waldman describes the religious beliefs of five founding fathers–and how each founding father felt the church should (or should not) be involved in religious affairs.
Recommendation: A wonderfully balanced portrayal of the faith of the founding fathers. Definitely worth reading.

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Categories Book Reviews, Homemaking

Book Review: “Handmade Home” by Amanda Blake Soule

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My friend read it and loved it.

“You’ve got to read this book,” she said.

I dutifully placed it on my TBR list and waited for it to become available at my library.

It took awhile. It’s a popular book.

But once I got it, I knew why.

It’s filled with gorgeous projects for re-purposing old items into new “pretties” (and “usefuls”) for your home.

Projects range from bags and pillows to children’s toys to “green” items (cloth diapers and women’s cloths) to clothing items to curtains, banners, and table runners.

And there’s the lovely towel rug that I decided to make for myself. I have dozens of vintage towels I saved from my Grandmother’s collection, intending to repurpose them into something. I originally thought I’d make a throw–but for the last year or so, I’ve been thinking I’d use them to make some easy washable bath mats.

Towel rug

Soule’s towel rug, made with a towel and a garage-saled pillowcase, fit the bill perfectly. Having made this one, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for more garage sale/thrift store sheets and pillowcases. ‘Cause I don’t think I’ll be done until I’ve made a whole set of these!

Towel rug

Rating: 4 stars
Category: Sewing Crafts
Synopsis: 30 Household Sewing Projects from Amanda Blake Soule, blogger at SouleMama.com
Recommendation: Lovely projects, pretty pictures, engaging commentary. Sewers and crafters will want to take a peak at this book.

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Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Heavens to Betsy”

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Neither of us knew what book mood we were in so Grace and I started playing the “find a Christian book” game at the library.

The “find a Christian book” game has absolutely nothing to do with finding interesting books to read–and has everything to do with seeing how good you are at identifying Christian novels from their spines. The best players can identify using only the color, font, and graphics on the spine. In other words, the best players don’t even have to read the book’s title.

I, of course, am among the best players :-)

But even I went out on a limb when I selected Heavens to Betsy by Beth Pattillo as a Christian novel. From the spine, it could have been a Christian novel or it could have been some really low-quality chick-lit. But I’d already been successful at several rounds of our game and I was ready to be bold (“Be Bold! Be Strong!” as my dad would sing.)

I turned out to be right. On both counts.

Heavens to Betsy is Christian, of a sort. And it’s chick-lit, of a sort. And its quality is rather poor. But while I generally avoid talking about poor quality, pseudo-Christian chick-lit, I just can’t help but want to say a few words about this title.

It’s about a female pastor.

A single female pastor.

Who is convinced by another single female pastor to do a makeover show.

And who falls in love with another single pastor (this one a guy.)

Yeah.

Wow.

I really don’t have a lot more to say about it.

Except that the whole thing is totally wrong. In so many ways.

The thing that bothered me most?

The assumption the author makes that a woman can’t minister, or even be “in the ministry” unless she’s a pastor.

Completely mistaken.

Very sad.

But what should I have expected from an author who is herself a pastor in the Christian Church-Disciples of Christ (not to be confused with the more conservative independent Christian churches)?

Why’d I read it?

I don’t know.

I guess I sometimes find chick-lit entertaining. I sometimes find Christian novels entertaining.

And Heavens to Betsy was mildly entertaining–if only for the shock value.

Rating: 0 stars
Category: Christian chick lit (of a sort)
Synopsis: Reverend Betsy Blessing struggles with her awkward role as a single, female, interim senior pastor of an aging Nashville congregation.
Recommendation: No need to read. Just gasp along with me as you read my “review”.

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Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “The Homeschool Liberation League”

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Have I ever told you about the time I decided to drop out of school?

I haven’t?

Well, let’s correct that now.

I was sixteen years old and had just finished reading Grace Llewellyn’s The Teenage Liberation Handbook (subtitled “How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education”). Llewellyn suggested an unschooling approach to education and I thought it sounded amazing. That was it. I was dropping out.

I was reminded of my teenage dropout days when I started reading Lucy Frank’s The Homeschool Liberation League, in which Katya gets fed up with school and with the person she is at school and takes a radical step: she turns around and leaves.

In camp that summer, she’d learned how much she COULD learn when she was interested in the topic she was studying–and now the mind-numbing, sleep inducing dreariness of teachers who don’t care and fellow students who only care about popularity has become too much for her. She wants to learn like she did at camp–and she thinks she has the solution.

Homeschooling.

One of the girls at camp did it, and it sounded fantastic.

So Katya’s returned home from the first day of school, determined to drop out and be homeschooled.

Now to convince her parents.

Lucy Frank says that this novel is her “tribute to the range of learning possibilities available to kids today”–and I’ll say it makes a pretty good tribute. It plays with some of the concepts many a homeschooling mom has explored–from unschooling to “school-at-home” to an “eclectic” approach to homeschooling. It shows students alternately having difficulties with and thriving under some of the many options available to kids–from public schools to charter schools to private schools to homeschool co-ops.

I didn’t get the impression that Frank is a sold-out believer in any one system of education (public/private/homeschooling/etc.)–she portrays each setting as having its own challenges and advantages, as I think she ought. Frank also does a good job of showing how different learning environments can be ideal for different students.

That being said, this isn’t a didactic book, all about different methods of learning. Really, it’s just a story–a story about a girl who wants to learn but finds that school just isn’t cutting it for her. It’s a story many of us can probably identify with.

I know I can.

After all, I was sixteen year old homeschooler who read a book about unschooling and decided to drop out of school. :-)

Katya and her parents tried a number of different approaches as they tried to figure out what was right for her–and the ultimate solution turned out to not be what any of them expected.

My dropout days didn’t quite end like I expected, either. I had goals, you see. College, a career. I wanted to be a scientist. I wanted to be a dietitian. I could drop out of “school”–but I’d still need to take chemistry at the public school like I was already doing. I’d still need to finish my trigonometry (that I was doing at home.) I still wanted to do our co-op literature class.

Basically, I could “officially” drop out of school–but it wouldn’t really change anything. Because even if I wished I could just have fun learning about this and that whenever the yen struck me, I had goals–and the program my parents and I had already come up with was designed to achieve those goals.

Maybe I’m just an idealist–but I get the idea that a student reading The Homeschool Liberation League might take it almost like I took The Teenage Liberation Handbook. They might realize that maybe school should be interesting–that maybe even they could enjoy learning. They might start to explore and to discuss with their parents the many options that are available to them as students.

And I think that’s probably a good thing.

Rating: 4 stars
Category: Young Adult Fiction
Synopsis: Katya leaves school to be homeschooled–if she can convince her parents to let her be homeschooled, that is.
Recommendation: A fun read, an interesting exploration of the many schooling options available to students nowadays. Both young adults and older adults will likely enjoy this title.

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Categories Book Reviews

Book Review-”Manufacturing Depression”

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I started reading Gary Greenberg’s Manufacturing Depression with a good deal of interest. The first few chapters certainly intrigued me (as noted here). Greenberg laid out his idea that depression is an “invented” disease and that the medical diagnosis of depression rewrites the narrative of human suffering as a medical problem rather than an existential problem. He proposed to explore the history of the “invention” of depression throughout the rest of the book.

And he did. He wrote of the history of the “disease” called depression. He wrote of the creation of the nomenclature for depression. He wrote of how depression is not identified based on empirical evidence of pathology but upon a collection of symptoms somewhat arbitrarily assigned based on the effects of psychoactive drugs. He wrote of how drug companies marketed depression to consumers at the same time as they marketed their drugs to “fix” it.

Greenberg uses this information to mount a case against the modern medical model of depression. His main argument against the model is that it doesn’t have as much scientific support as it has been advertised to have. However, Greenberg offers no evidence that proves (or even suggests) that the medical model to be incorrect. His sole argument is that the model is “not as proven as some might claim”.

The history of the medical model of depression is fascinating–but I had a hard time with Greenberg’s obvious bias against the medical model, because I felt like he had no viable alternative model to offer.

Greenberg is a therapist. He uses the medical nomenclature of the DSM to get paid. The fact that he has clients visiting him implies that something is wrong with their lives–something they need help with. But if this is not a medical problem, what is it? It’s not a coping problem, says Greenberg–he disapproves of cognitive therapy that teaches coping skills.

So what is it? How is human suffering, particularly the chronic kind that seems unresponsive to changed circumstances, to be understood? What causes it? What can be done to change it?

Greenberg offers no solutions. Sure, he puts in a plug for his own free-form Freudian version of therapy–but he correctly notes that his own version of therapy really has no theoretical, philosophical, OR empirical underpinnings. He simply asks what he feels like asking, explores what he feels like exploring, goes with his gut in therapy. Ultimately, he offers no alternative narrative to the medical one.

While Greenberg rightly points out misuse of the scientific method in the development and marketing of both depression and its cures, he appears to conclude that this invalidates any scientific inquiry into suffering. I object.

Perhaps this is simply the difference between my ideology and his. I am trained in a science, in a field where scientific inquiry is admired, where we want to make sure that any theories we form are scientifically validated. I am a health-care provider who thinks highly of evidence-based medicine.

I’m also in a field that has a thousand self-proclaimed experts with a thousand different theories and recommendations, few of which are supported by ANY science, much less the preponderance of evidence.

So I tend to have a low view of pseudo-medical professions that base their practice off of ideology rather than testable, provable facts.

Basically, I felt like Greenberg’s main reason for writing this book was to discredit depression since his own brand of Freudian talk therapy has fallen out of vogue. Much of what Greenberg said may have been true–but I doubt his motives in sharing, especially because he offers no evidence to support his own version of depression and its treatment (in fact, he derides the very idea of evidence-based practice.)

I found Manufacturing Depression to be interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying.

Greenberg ends his exploration of depression with a word of advice to readers. He urges them to write their own narrative about suffering–not to let the medical “experts” write their story for them. But what he fails to do is offer any better alternative narrative. Even if the medical model of depression is full of flaws (and I have no doubt that it is), it’s still the best explanation so far.

I’m a scientist–and I’m not going to throw out an explanatory theory unless I have good evidence against it or a better theory to replace it with. Greenberg offers neither.

Rating: 2 stars
Category: Medical History, Depression
Synopsis: Greenberg tells the history of depression as a modern disease.
Recommendation: Interesting but unsatisfying, as Greenberg attempts to discredit a model without offering any better alternative.

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Book Review: “The Myth of a Christian Nation” by Greg Boyd

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America is a Christian nation founded on Christian principles. Our founding fathers were Christians. America is a second Israel, a chosen nation to promote God’s message around the world. Christians in America need to take America back for God–we need to outlaw abortion, pass laws to protect the sanctity of marriage, and fight for Christian prayer in schools.

Does any of this sound familiar?

It certainly does to me–a homeschooled daughter of conservative Christians. My school textbooks read America as a Christian nation through and through–until the corrupt sixties destroyed everything. Admittedly, I generally took this story of history with a grain of salt–but I know plenty who had been raised on the secularly revisionist history of the US who now take this “Christian” version as gospel truth. To them, the call to “take America back for God” is THE calling of the American church.

Greg Boyd’s The Myth of a Christian Nation challenges these and other assertions of the “religious right.”

Boyd’s primary thesis is that Christians miss the point when they make political involvement central to faith. Boyd argues that there is a fundamental difference between the way “the kingdoms of the world” operate and the way “the kingdom of God” operates. The kingdoms of the world attempt to change behavior by exercising power over people; while the kingdom of God changes hearts as the church demonstrates what Boyd calls “power under” living–service and self-sacrifice, following the example of Christ in the cross. Boyd argues that when Christians emphasize politics (a “power over” approach), they dilute or pollute their Christian witness–and fail to walk in Christ-like “power under” love.

I have to say that this book was rather uncomfortable for me–pretty much all the way through. While Boyd states from the beginning that his beef is not merely with the “religious right” but with any political agenda that the church takes on as its own, 100% of his criticism is of the religious right. As a conservative, and one who would probably be lumped by pollsters into the category “the religious right”, I struggled against the temptation to be offended by Boyd’s one-sided criticisms of conservatives.

I spent at least the first three chapters “reserving judgment”. I wanted to hear Boyd out, to really listen to what he had to say. And I’m glad I did.

Boyd’s strength in this book is his clear emphasis on how the kingdom of God differs from the kingdom of the world–and that the primary concern of the Christian should be to exercise kingdom of God “power under” rather than kingdom of the world “power over”. He makes a wonderful point that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world are completely distinct–and should be kept completely distinct.

“To be sure, a version of the kindgdom of the world that effectively carries out law, order, and justice is indeed closer to God’s will for the kingdom of the world.… But no version of the kingdom of the world is closer to the kingdom of God than others because it does its job relatively well. For God’s kingdom looks like Jesus, and no amount of sword-wielding, however just it may be, can ever get a person, government, nation, or world closer to that. The kingdom of God is not an ideal version of the kingdom of the world; it’s not something that any verison of the kingdom of the world can aspire toward or be measured against. The kingdom of God is a completely distinct, alternative way of doing life.”
~Greg Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation

Boyd does a good job, in my opinion, of urging Christians to see living in a Christ-like, others-serving, “power-under” manner as their primary call; rather than seeking political influence as their primary goal. What Boyd does less well is clearly articulate how a Christian might have a godly attitude towards and involvement in politics. That is, one could easily read Boyd and think that the only appropriate thing a Christian can do in relationship with politics is to quietly vote his or her conscience. While Boyd never explicitly says that a Christian could never campaign for a candidate or cause, run for office, or otherwise “move and shake” politically–that is the impression that this book gives.

Because I am not a huge fan of the “Christian nation” narrative made popular in works such as Peter Marshall and David Manuel’s The Light and the Glory, I was not particularly worried about or offended by Boyd’s alternate narrative which makes America out to be an almost completely secular nation (a la current secular revisionist history.) However, my reading on the subject (two excellent books on church and state and the founding of America are Jon Meacham’s American Gospel and Steven Waldman’s Founding Faith) suggests that the reality fell somewhere in between these two extremes. Again, since my presupposition (as well as my reading of history) falls somewhere between the two extremes, I took Boyd’s rendering with a grain of salt, just as I have with Marshal and Manuel’s. But I wonder if Boyd’s extreme secular interpretation fo history would drive away those who have fully bought into what Boyd calls the “Myth” of a christian nation–making them unable or unwilling to see his true thesis amidst their (partly justifiable) outrage.

I have tons more thoughts on The Myth of a Christian Nation–but I’m already running rather long. This book (and the book club with which I read it) challenged me greatly, changing my mind on some things, clarifying my thoughts on others, and encouraging me to search deeper on yet more. Even though I do not find myself agreeing with everything that Boyd has written (or perhaps because I do not agree with everything Boyd wrote), I am very glad that I read this book–and that I chose to hear Boyd out through the sections which I could have chosen to take deep offense at.

I encourage other readers to do the same. Read this book, choose to reserve judgment, choose to quell the offense you might be tempted to take, choose to search through and pray through Boyd’s thesis. Maybe Boyd will change your mind. Maybe he won’t. But I promise you that you’ll have a deeper and wider perspective on the kingdom of God and on how politics may or may not fit in that for having wrestled with Boyd’s arguments.

Rating:4 stars
Category: Religion and Politics
Synopsis: Boyd argues that “the quest for political power is destroying the church.”
Recommendation: Many may find this book offensive (I know I was definitely tempted to take offense)–but I think Boyd’s thesis is certainly worth grappling with. Christians (particularly those who are interested in politics) would do well to read this book and wrestle through the ideas found within.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Inside the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by James Stuart Bell and others

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Chronicles of Narnia

When Carrie’s Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge rolls around in the month of July, I relish the opportunity to go back to Narnia. I don’t often give myself the luxury of re-reading books, since I’ve got a bazillion books to read in my quest to read every book in my local library. But I make an exception for C.S. Lewis and re-read one title for the challenge. I’d already read all seven of the Narnia books (since September 5 of 2006 when I began the quest), so I assumed that there was no way I could continue to make progress towards my goal while I completed the Narnia reading challenge.

But then Carrie posted a collection of books about Narnia (and a second list). I had an “Ah-hah!” moment and quickly opened my library webpage to see if they had any books about Narnia that I could read. They did.

Since I was just finishing up The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I figured that Inside “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” would be a good title to start with. Inside is a paperback novel sized book intended as a children’s read-along or study guide for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The writing style reminds me somewhat of the popular “For Dummies” series, in that unfamiliar vocabulary is defined and the authors speak directly to the reader. But even though it might be easy-to-understand, this book is definitely NOT for dummies.

Inside “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is stuffed with information about the allusions found within the iconic Narnia title. The authors take the reader through the book chapter by chapter, explaining the London air raids, Turkish delight, Father Christmas, the background on the many strange creatures found within Narnia and more. While I’m relatively well-read, I learned plenty from this book. For instance, I already knew that the wolf Maugrim’s British name was “Fenris Ulf”, but I didn’t know that he may have been modeled after the mythical Norse wolf “Fenrir”. This book describes literary allusions that I didn’t know existed–but which make perfect sense upon reading them. They’ve got me wanting to read some of the fairy tales and mythology that seem to have inspired Lewis!

Of course, some of the most evident literary and historical allusions found in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are allusions to the Bible. Bell, Pyykkonen, and Washington address these in the same way as they address the others. They explain the reference to “sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.” They describe the correlations between Aslan and Jesus and between Edmund and Judas. They discuss Cair Paravel as a sort of “Promised Land” or “heaven”. The authors aren’t over the top with their Biblical references (that is, they don’t make it the emphasis at the expense of explaining other references), but they are thorough in their coverage of the Biblical allusions found in Narnia.

Some other fun features of this book (in addition to the information that it’s JAM-PACKED with) are the quizzes and call-outs that can be found at odd intervals throughout. You can take a quiz about the differences between beavers in Narnia and beavers in our world. You can read a quick “profile” of Peter (and numerous other characters) that lists his name, age, nicknames, likes and dislikes, and the gift he received from Father Christmas. There’s a logic puzzle to play and a closing “Oscars” in which you can vote for the best leading “actor” in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Kids interested in discussing Lewis’s book with their friends (or homeschooling mothers interested in assigning writing exercises to go along with their child’s reading) might enjoy the discussion questions found in the back of Inside.

All these features combine to make this a great resources for anyone (late elementary school on up) who is a lover of Narnia. Homeschooling parents (or parents looking for a project to do with their kids for next year’s “Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge”) may want to use this book as a springboard for a unit study for younger students (While the title doesn’t specifically give activity suggestions, it wouldn’t be hard to come up with some of your own–they’re practically jumping off the page in anticipation for you to do them.) All in all, this is a book every lover of Narnia (and lover of children’s literature in general) should pick up.

Rating: 5 Stars
Category: Literature Study-Guide/Read-along
Synopsis: An easy-to-understand yet in-depth look at the literary and historical allusions found in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Recommendation: This book is a definite keeper. Find it, buy it, peruse it, lend it to your older children, and find a way to share the information found within with your younger children. This is a fantastic resource.