Book Reviews

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

4 Comments by

I read this book as a part of Amy’s Armchair Cybils. Rose Under Fire was a finalist for the young adult fiction category. Sadly, it did not win, but I think it definitely deserves its position as a finalist.

It starts with a funeral and a report–the funeral of a fellow Air Transport Auxillary pilot, the report Rose must write because she saw the pilot’s failed landing.

How will Rose write about this report? In a way, she feels responsible. She had flown that plane before, the pilot who died hadn’t. She’d briefed the dead pilot on flying that plane. She’d let the other pilot take off first with Rose following behind. But the conversation Rose had with the mechanic who inspected the crashed plane complicates the matter. The plane had been damaged prior to landing. It’d had contact with something. The mechanic thought the pilot had tried tipping a buzz bomb–knocking it off course so it’d explode in an empty field instead of a city where it could injure people.

Rose becomes obsessed with the buzz bombs. They aren’t just buzzing overhead, going silent, and then knocking out whole city blocks–they’re getting much closer. Her colleague is dead. Her bus ride on her day off is spent on the floor of the bus for fear of one falling on them. She finds two boys playing with one undetonated one and orders them away, is left holding a fuse in her hand. She dreams of her little brother with his arm blown off by a buzz bomb fuse.

She talks to her fellow pilots about the buzz bombs, about this “tipping” thing. What are the mechanics? How does one do it? How does one not injure her plane like their colleague did?

Not that she’s likely to encounter a buzz bomb. The allies are advancing, have taken back France. She’s just transporting, not likely to be anywhere near the lines from which the bombs are launched.

Until she is. And a buzz bomb comes near. And she can chase it, can tip it.

And she gets caught by two German planes who escort her back to Germany.

Ravensbruck. The pilot who flew her to prison regards it as just a pilot’s navigation point. Rose finds that it’s so much more. Once there, she experiences unthinkable horrors, sees even worse.

Daily life is a struggle for survival. Physically, yes–but so much more. How does one not despair when stuck amidst maggots, when propping up dead compatriots so that the numbers can match during roll call, when left to the mercy of hellish guards and insufficient food?

Only the few who resist the temptation to despair will survive. Despair means certain death.

How will Rose fare under fire?

It’s difficult to describe a book so rich in historical details, so emotionally compelling, so horrific and so lovely.

Rose Under Fire is not an easy book to read. Ravensbruck is described in stomach-turning detail. One can sense the desperation, the horror of that time and place. One is forced to come to grips with the fact that this- this is what fallen humans can do, have done, could do again.

Davene does a much better job than I ever could of expressing the emotion and thoughts this book evoked.

“But tonight, I feel as if the veil has been lifted, and I’ve glimpsed anew what life is and has been like for so many people born into circumstances so much more difficult than mine. That chasm is so wide that I can’t even mentally reconcile it, but I can–and I will, every single day–say thank you for this life I’ve been given.”

If you haven’t read this book yet, you should. You will find yourself torn up over the reality of sin and injustice, thankful for the life you have now, and prayerful that justice and peace would reign someday over the earth (as it will, we have this blessed hope, when our Lord returns.)

Rating: 5 Stars
Category: YA Historical Fiction
Synopsis: After “tipping” a buzz bomb from the sky, Rose, a fearless Air Transport Auxillary pilot, finds herself in Ravensbruck witness to and victim of unspeakable horrors.
Recommendation: Read this.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

3 Comments by

I knew I was going to like L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle when I got to a line in the second paragraph that I could identify with oh-so-well:

“One does not sleep well, sometimes, when one is twenty-nine on the morrow, and unmarried, in a community and connection where the unmarried are simply those who have failed to get a man.”

Not that I’ve ever been on the cusp of twenty-nine and unmarried. Or that I’ve been in a community and a connection where the unmarried are simply those who have failed to get a man.

But I have been 27 and unmarried, feeling like I was simply one who had failed to get a man. I, like Valancy, “had never quite relinquished a certain pitiful, shamed, little hope that Romance would come [my] way yet.” Until I was 27 and talking to a mortgage officer about a home loan. Then, I felt sure that I’d given up hope.

I was entirely sympathetic with Valancy’s plight.

Then I got to the fourth page, where I learned of the blue castle in Spain, the daydream Valancy had been escaping to since she was a young girl. I knew at that point that Valancy and I would be kindred spirits.

I had no drab existence (at least, not in the sense of a yellow-painted floor with a hideous hooked rug and ancient photos of relatives I don’t know hung within my bedroom) or unloving childhood to escape from–but I took refuge in my own blue castles nonetheless.

Like Valancy, I decorated my castle and imagined romances for myself. I had a series of “lovers” (only one at a time, of course, like Valancy did) who each faded away as a new story presented itself to my mind.

I was never a shy child or a shy woman who cowed under the censure of a strong-willed family. I never had a dull life, was never colorless or mousy. I was not one bit like Valancy in personality or family circumstance–only in singleness and dreaming.

But that was enough for me to like her and be interested in her plight.

Thankfully, Valancy doesn’t stay a single doormouse caught up in her dreams (that’d be a rather boring book, wouldn’t it?) Instead, she receives some news that shocks her out of her complacency and compels her to start living real life.

She starts saying and doing the things she’s been thinking for so long. She throws the jar of mouldy potpouri that’s been sitting in her bedroom out the window and against the building next door: “I’m sick of the fragrance of dead things.” She announces to a dinner party of assembled family that “the greatest happiness is to sneeze when you want to.” And she moves out of her widowed mother and aunt’s house and into the home of a widowed man and his dying daughter.

And then she moves into her blue castle and building her own life–discovering along the way that her castle is a little different than she’d dreamed all along, and so much more wonderful. (I identify with this discovery completely.)

And then comes the second great shock of her life–a shock great enough to overthrow everything she’d been building for the past year (du-duh-DUH!)

I liked this book. I really, really did. And I think others will as well.

Rating: 4 stars
Category: Fiction/Romance
Synopsis: The only interesting thing in dull, mousy Valancy Stirling’s life is her dream world–the “Blue Castle” in Spain. But shocking news changes everything for her and she suddenly starts shocking everyone else by building a real life for herself–in anything but a dull, mousy way.
Recommendation: Definitely worth reading if you like romances (of the unsmutty variety) or L.M. Montgomery

I read this as a part of Carrie’s Reading to Know Classics Book Club and the L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge–which means you don’t have to take my word on the book as the final word. All sorts of other bloggers are reading and writing up their thoughts on The Blue Castle. Check them out!

Categories B3RD, Book Reviews

Book Review: Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes

1 Comment by

Taubes. I’d heard the name before, seen it on Instapundit. He was a low carb guy or a paleo or something like that. I didn’t pay him any attention.

Before Daniel and I met, Daniel heard an interview with Taubes on Russ Roberts’ EconTalk and was impressed. Daniel had been trying to eat lower carb in response; but once I took over the cooking, he just ate whatever I made.

Daniel has never complained about my cooking–in fact, he regularly compliments me (and shows the greater compliment of eating even the leftovers). But every so often, he’ll mention Taubes or comment that I should try making a lower carb version of this or that (My husband also has a rather significant faith in my ability to work wonders in the kitchen.)

So I knew I’d need to read Taubes’ Why We Get Fat eventually. I checked it out from the library while we were still dating, but I didn’t get very far.

See, the first chapter of Why We Get Fat seems designed to (forgive my French) piss off nutrition professionals.

Taubes effectively says: “Nutrition professionals say we get fat because calories in are greater than calories out. That’s not true.” He goes on to give example after example of fat but malnourished people. Problem is, he wasn’t giving enough information to differentiate whether actual energy malnutrition was occurring concurrent with obesity or whether what he was describing was kwashiorkor or other non-energy forms of malnutrition. This frustrated me beyond belief–and I gave up after the first chapter more than once.

It’s this first chapter that led to arguments between Daniel and I. I got really upset about how I felt Taubes was dogging my profession–and upset that he wasn’t giving the sort of information I needed to evaluate his claim. At first, Daniel didn’t really believe me that Taubes was so anti-nutrition professionals–so he was feeling pretty defensive, like I wasn’t giving Taubes a chance. After re-reading the first chapter, Daniel realized I was right about Taubes’ antipathy towards people like me–which didn’t really help the matter. No one wants to be proven wrong in an argument with his wife–and much less so if his wife is on rampage because an author (who you think should be taken seriously) has royally ticked her off. So, yeah….We definitely had to communicate our way through the first chapter because emotion was running pretty high.

Moving on.

The whole first half of the book was dedicating to “debunking” (ineffectively, to my mind) the idea that body fat is a matter of energy balance. This was pretty frustrating to me because energy balance is really just a matter of the 1st law of thermodynamics. We can’t store energy (in the form of fat) that we don’t have. Energy balance isn’t really open for debate.

It seemed to me that Taubes was making a common mistake–assuming that the energy balance equation is how much we eat minus how much we exercise. Yes, these are a big part of the energy balance equation, but calories in and out are actually much more complex, influenced by genetics, hormones, environment, and a host of other variables. Eating and exercise are simply the two most alterable aspects of the energy balance equation–which makes them a prime target for intervention.

So, after 70 pages hating on energy balance, Taubes admits that energy balance is a truism–sort of like survival of the fittest–and that what he’s really trying to say is that some other mechanism is primarily responsible for excess adiposity.

Great, I though, as I read the last few chapters of the first section. You could have just told me that at the beginning so I didn’t have to read all this hateful mumbo-jumbo before I could get to your thesis.

At last, in the second section of the book, Taubes was ready to tell the reader what his hypothesis is for why people become obese (literally, why they develop excess stores of fat tissue vs. lean tissue.)

His hypothesis goes like this: Insulin causes our bodies to preferentially store energy as fat, making it unavailable as fuel. Carbohydrate in the diet increases the amount of circulating insulin, which then increases adiposity (amount of fat tissue). Adipose tissue–and an overabundance of insulin–decreases insulin sensitivity, which means we have higher blood sugars. Higher blood sugars make us produce more insulin, which makes us get even fatter. And the cycle continues.

Taubes argues that this mechanism, in which insulin encourages our bodies to preferentially store energy as fat, means that our body will essential “rob” energy from vital processes (organ functioning as well as ability to use it for physical activity) in order to store it as fat. This means that a person can have inadequate energy for body functions while still storing fat.

This is an interesting and plausible mechanism for the problem of obesity (which is ultimately about excess body fatness rather than about body weight). I would love to see this hypothesis tested.

Unfortunately, Taubes seems intent on alienating the very people who have the knowledge and skills to test his hypothesis. Which means he can continue to sell “why your doctor/dietitian/health professional is wrong” books–but isn’t likely to see any change in public health policy.

My conclusions?

I like Taubes’ hypothesis. Right now, it’s just one theory among many regarding the causes of excess adiposity–but it has some definite merits. I’d love to see it tested.

And…I think Taubes is a jerk.

Just sayin’.

Rating:I can’t decide
Category:Nutrition
Synopsis:Taubes tries to explain why energy balance isn’t responsible for obesity–and what he thinks is responsible
Recommendation: Did you read my review? Okay, then you probably don’t need to read this book. The first half is rubbish, the second a reasonable hypothesis that needs testing. Oh, and I mentioned that the author is a jerk, right?

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “The Layman’s Bible Commentary: Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel”

1 Comment by

In last April’s Nightstand post, I gave a short review of The Layman’s Bible Commentary: Acts of the Apostles by Albert C. Winn. I spoke positively of it as a beginner’s commentary, restating and clarifying the text with bits of historical commentary throughout. While the mature believer with a lot of background already may not find it useful, it is a good source for the new believer or one with little Biblical background.

Recently, I picked up another volume in The Layman’s Bible Commentary series, this time written by Eric C. Rust on Judges through 2 Samuel. I started reading in 1 Samuel, in conjunction with my daily Bible reading, and red flags were popping up on almost every page.

Explaining Hannah’s song of praise in I Samuel 2:1-10, the commentator suggests that this psalm is not actually sung by Hannah but is of a later date–since the song mentions a king and Israel didn’t have a king until later. The problem with this interpretation is that Scripture directly contradicts it. I Samuel 2:1 says “And Hannah prayed and said”. If Scripture is inerrant, then there is no other explanation than that Hannah did indeed pray this prayer, including the part regarding a king, even though there was not yet a king in Israel. That she should sing of a king despite there not being a king is understandable if one believes that God inspires the words of Scripture and was also revealing his plan of redemption (although only in part) to the people of Israel before it happened. That the God who reveals secrets should have a woman prophesying in the midst of her prayers is not at all surprising. But the commentator doesn’t take this approach. Instead of regarding the Scripture as infallible and inspired by a God who is actively impacting the events that would be recorded, he seems to regard Scripture as little more than a human record of natural events.

Perhaps I would not judge this first blow at Scripture’s integrity so harshly as I have if the beating had not continued on each page that followed.

Writing of the people’s demand for a king in chapter 8, Rust says

“We have two conflicting traditions….The first, recorded in this chapter….The second, recorded in chapter 9….The two cannot be reconciled, and it is generally believed that the first tradition, enshrined in the chapter now being considered, was a later one, reflecting many years of disappointing experience of the monarchy and embodying the teaching of prophets like Hosea, who regarded the kingship as a manifestation of divine wrath.”

Rust states that chapter 8 has Samuel reluctantly giving in to the people’s request for a king and that chapter 9 has Samuel wholeheartedly giving the divine stamp of approval to the people’s request–and that the two can’t be reconciled.

The suggestion that the two are irreconcilable is ridiculous. The narrative is straightforward.
1. The people ask for a king (I Sam 8:5)
2. Samuel is displeased and prays to God (I Sam 8:6)
3. God tells Samuel to give the people a king but to warn them of what a king will do (I Sam 8:7-9)
4. Samuel warns the people of what a king will do (I Sam 8:10-18)
5. The people insist that they still want a king (I Sam 8:19-20)
6. Samuel tells God what the people said (I Sam 8:21)
7. God tells Samuel to give the people a king (I Sam 8:22)
Now, while we jump over to focus on the young Saul searching for his father’s donkeys, the overarching narrative remains the same. God has told Samuel to give the people a king, but they don’t have one yet. Verse 15 of chapter 9 picks up the story.
8. God tells Samuel that the man who will be king will arrive the next day (I Sam 9:15-16)
9. Samuel sees Saul and God confirms that this is the one (I Sam 9:17)

According to Rust, Samuel’s author switches back to reluctance in Chapter 10 when Samuel declares to the people that “today you have rejected your God” (I Sam 10:19). Yet I see no discontinuity in the text. The people were indeed rejecting God as their king–but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t still the one in charge of getting them a king.

Anyway, I go off on the details. Suffice to say that I do NOT recommend this particular volume within the Layman’s Bible Commentary. The author clearly has a low view of Scripture and this view suffuses everything he says.

Rating:0 Stars
Category:Bible Commentary
Synopsis:A theologian who does not believe in Biblical inerrancy repeatedly creates conflict within the text where no conflict exists, shedding doubt on every page of his commentary.
Recommendation: Don’t read.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

4 Comments by

When we were looking for a book to read for the new bookclub a few friends were forming, I suggested Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I had to look up the description of the book in order to suggest it, since I didn’t have any idea what the actual content of the book was.

I just remember Amy declaring that it was going to be the best book she’d read in 2012-despite having read it at the very beginning of the year. And I remember Carrie reading it and loving it. And Janet. It ended up on both of the Lisas’ (Lisa Writes and Lisa Notes) lists of best books read in 2011. Barbara said it was excellent. In other words, almost every blogger I know and respect absolutely loved this book.

Now I know why.

So that you’re not as clueless as I was when I suggested this book to my club friends, I’ll give you a bit of a summary before I start raving. Unbroken tells the true story of Louie Zamperini, a neighborhood rascal turned Olympic runner turned B-24 bomber turned castaway turned POW turned alcoholic turned… This man’s life is astounding. After every section, I kept expecting this to be the end of the story, but it kept going. When Louie almost breaks the 4 minute mile, I think that he’s reached the pinnacle of his life…but his story has only just begun. When he survives for what seems like forever on a raft in the Pacific Ocean without food, I think he’s reached the height of human endurance…but his trial has only just begun. When he survives the terrible existence of being an undocumented Japanese POW, I think that his troubles are finally over…but he will now find himself battling with his worst foe yet. The subtitle of this volume is absolutely right. This is “a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption.”

In no particular order, here are a few (not all) the reasons why this book is one of the best books I’ve ever read–and why it’ll be tough for us to beat it as a book club read:

  1. It’s an absolutely riveting story of an endlessly fascinating man
  2. The author does a wonderful job of weaving together historical details, human details, quotes from endless interviews, and memorabilia to make a compelling book that’s difficult to put down.
  3. It highlights the Pacific theater of World War II–a fascinating but often-glossed-over side of WWII
  4. It is rich with thematic elements–sibling relationships, teamwork, mind over matter, human dignity, the ethics of war. (Not that the author tries to propagandize. She doesn’t opine on the topics, it’s just that the story raises questions ripe for reflection or book club discussion.)
  5. God “accidentally” shows up. This is not a religious work and the author doesn’t even appear that curious about religion, much less be a fan of spiritual things, but she can’t help but report what happened. And the truth is that the story of Louie Zamperini’s life isn’t complete without the God who saved him from his worst enemy yet.

I’ve done a terrible job of summing up this book–and a similarly terrible job of expressing why I loved it so much.

But please, forgive the poor ramblings of a woman who can’t quite figure out how to put things into words–and pick up a copy of Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:5 Stars
Category:History/Biography
Synopsis:The overwhelmingly powerful, fantastically told story of Louis Zamperini’s life as an Olympian, an airman, a castaway, a POW, an alcoholic, and a redeemed man.
Recommendation: As Carrie put it: “So why, exactly, are you still sitting here?” Buy it, borrow it, steal it*; but READ it.

*That’s an expression. Please don’t actually steal this book. Whoever you stole it from will never forgive you.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “The Contraception Guidebook” by William Cutrer and Sandra Glahn

8 Comments by

Subtitled “Options, Risks, and Answers for Christian Couples”, Cutrer and Glahn’s The Contraception Guidebook attempts to provide “medically reliable, Biblically sound” information regarding contraception for Christian couples. In my opinion, this book not only attempts but succeeds at providing medically reliable, Biblically sound information.

The first section of the book provides background for contraception. In chapter two, we review a brief history of contraception through the ages (oh boy, women used to put some really disgusting things in their vagina) and take a look at some of the modern contraception myths (for instance, that a woman can’t get pregnant while she’s on her period.) In chapter three, the authors discuss the purpose of sex from a Biblical standpoint. It is important to note that the authors do NOT discuss the quiver-full type argument (that children are a blessing and that conception should never be prevented) in this section. Instead, the authors save this discussion for the very last section of the book, when they discuss the theological implications of family planning, especially in light of the command/blessing to “be fruitful and multiply” and the clear Scriptural teaching that “children are a blessing from the Lord”. The fourth chapter of the book, and the final chapter in the first section, discusses the basic functioning of the male and female reproductive systems.

While I appreciated the overall content of the first and last sections of the book, I probably would have preferred to have had them laid out in a different manner. My preference would have been to have all the theological implications of contraception (the purpose of sex, the theological implications of family planning, and the sanctity of human life) combined at the beginning of the book before discussing methods of contraception. Instead, the authors seem to assume that their readers are in favor of the idea of contraception, even though they might be confused about appropriate methods of contraception. Only in the last section of the book do they address questions of the appropriateness of family planning at all.

I also have to say that, while I generally agree with the authors’ conclusions regarding the theological appropriateness of family planning (versus taking a Quiver-full type approach), I do not feel that this book is particularly useful to those who are wrestling with that question. The real strength of this book is in the second section, which deals with methods of contraception.

The second section gets into the nitty-gritty of contraception options, discussing Natural Family Planning, a variety of barrier methods, spermicides, hormonal methods, and sterilization techniques. The authors carefully address what each option includes, what the mechanism of action for each method is, as well as any ethical considerations. The authors are clearly opposed to abortion (as they ought to be)–and they carefully evaluate each method for any potential abortifacient effect.

This was probably the most interesting section for me (and probably the section most readers are looking for). I appreciated how comprehensive the authors are, discussing not just broad groups of birth control methods, but getting into the details of each. For example, in Natural Family Planning (NFP), the authors address withdrawal (not an effective form of contraception), the calendar method, breastfeeding as contraception, the ovulation method, the sympto-thermal method, monitoring cervical changes, hormone tests, and saliva tests. I use natural family planning as an example not because it is promoted as the best method of contraception (the authors don’t appear to have any strong biases towards any particular form of contraceptive, apart from being strictly opposed to abortifacients), but because it is a form of birth control that I haven’t seen covered a lot in other literature.

I have done quite a bit of reading on birth control methods in the past–first because I was a student health aide, then because I was interested in pretty much anything to do with women’s health (I wanted to be a midwife, once upon a time), but also as Daniel and I were preparing for marriage. But in all my reading, I have rarely, if ever, seen a balanced look at NFP. Almost everything I’ve read has basically said “Natural Family Planning uses various methods to predict ovulation and works by avoiding intercourse during times of peak fertility. NFP requires a lot of work and isn’t always very accurate.”

This book, on the other hand, carefully addresses the techniques behind different methods of predicting ovulation–and gives the relative effectiveness of each. It turns out that NFP can be a highly effective form of birth control given enough information (that is, enough information about one’s own cycle).

Honestly, I really wish I’d read this book before I got married. If I had, I might have more seriously considered NFP combined with a barrier method from the beginning–and started collecting data (basal body temperature, cervical changes, mucous changes) to make our predictions more effective. As it is, we’re having to be pretty conservative (in other words, using condoms or a diaphragm most of the time) because we can’t pinpoint my ovulation very closely from the currently available data.

I’m glad that this book is very thorough regarding the different methods of contraception, addressing the pros and cons of each, including the relative effectiveness of different methods. For this reason, I highly recommend this book to couples who are trying to decide which method of contraception to use or who want to evaluate their current contraceptive use in light of the sanctity of life.

Rating:4 Stars
Category:Christian Living/Medical
Synopsis:An in-depth look at contraceptive choices from a pro-family, pro-life perspective.
Recommendation: An excellent choice for couples trying to weigh their contraceptive options (the most thorough treatment of the subject that I’ve ever read.)

Categories Book Reviews

“A Year of Biblical Womanhood” by Rachel Held Evans

3 Comments by

Since the publication of announcement of Rachel Held Evans’ year-long project attempting to live as a “Biblical woman”, criticisms have been flying strong through the interwebs. The evangelical camp to which I belong (complementarian Biblical literalists) has been highly critical of Evans’ project, and of her published book. They have argued that Evans treats complementarianism unfairly and that Evans’ approach to the Bible undermines the “truthfulness and sufficiency and relevance of the Bible”.

I agree.

Evans frequently mischaracterizes the complementarian position; and, while she critiques many conservative interpretations of Scripture related to womanhood, she never sets forth any system for properly interpreting Scripture–which means that she ends up encouraging the reader to take a lower-than-fully-inspired view of Scripture (Kathy Keller’s review addresses this in more depth).

On the other hand, I enjoyed this book and found myself frequently “Mmm-hmm”ing along with Evans’ conclusions.

How is this?

I knew from the outset that there were going to be plenty of disagreements between Evans and me. I knew that she has crossed the divide between conservative and liberal Scriptural interpretation. But I like memoirs, and I like projects, and I like reading things from perspectives other than my own.

I approached this book, then, in the same way as I approached A.J. Jacobs’ A Year of Living Biblically. I approached it as an amusement read, something which may be used to hone and deepen my convictions or may just be something to go “Huh” at.

While I disagreed with plenty of what Evans had to say, I found myself nodding along as she concluded each month of her year focusing on a different trait of “Biblical womanhood”.

At the end of the month on Gentleness:

“Mastering a gentle and quite spirit didn’t mean changing my personality, just regaining control of it, growing strong enough to hold back and secure enough to soften. What they forgot to tell us in Sunday School is that the ‘gentle and quiet spirit’ Peter wrote about is not, in fact, an exclusively feminine virtue, but is elevated throughout the New Testament as a trait expected of all Christians.

Within the chapter on beauty:

“Both husbands and wives bear the sweet responsibility of seeking beauty in one another at all stages of life. No one gets off the hook because the other is wearing sweatpants or going bald or carrying a child or battling cancer. Any pastor who claims the Bible says otherwise is lying. End of story.

At the end of the chapter on modesty:

“There are women for whom the bonnets and aprons foster humility and women for whom the same things foster pride. That’s because true modesty has little to do with clothing or jewelry or makeup. The virtue that is celebrated in Scripture is so elusive we struggle to find words to capture its spirit…

And so we codify. We legislate. We pull little girls to the front of the class and slap rulers against their bare legs and try to measure modesty in inches…. We cling to the letter because the spirit is so much harder to master.

More often than not, this backfires, and our attempts to be different result in uniformity, our attempts to be plain draw attention to ourselves, our attempts to temper sexuality inadvertently exploit it, and our attempts to avoid offense accidentally create it.

Perhaps this is why Paul encouraged women to ‘adorn themselves’ with good deeds, why he instructed all Christians, ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ’, and why the valorous woman of Proverbs 31 is praised because she ‘clothes herself in strength and dignity.’

It’s not what we wear but how we wear it.

And like clothing, modesty fits each woman a little differently.”

At the close of the chapter on purity:

“There was a message behind these healings [in which Jesus touched unclean individuals], and it sounded throughout…the world: When God became human, when he wrapped himself in our blood and skin and bones, his first order of business was to touch the ones that we would not touch, to fellowship in our sufferings, and to declare once and for all that purity is found not in the body, but in the heart.”

In the chapter on fertility:

“As a Christian, my highest calling is not motherhood; my highest calling it to follow Christ. And following Christ is something a woman can do whether she is married or single, rich or poor, sick or healthy, childless or Michelle Duggar.”

Yes, I definitely agreed with a lot of her thoughts on the spirit behind the law–whether or not I agree with her on the value of keeping the letter of the law (or why one might be or not be bound to follow the law.)

Do I recommend this book?

Sure, but with the encouragement to read critically but not judgmentally. Enjoy Evans’ escapades, laugh at her turns of phrase–and critically evaluate her interpretations.

Rating:4 Stars
Category:Project Memoir
Synopsis:Evans describes her year of trying to take the Bible as literally as possible in regards to womanhood.
Recommendation: Go ahead and read it. Enjoy her experiences and critically evaluate her Biblical interpretations.

Categories Book Reviews

“A History of the World in 6 Glasses” by Tom Standage

1 Comment by

In the beginning, there was only water. Then man discovered beer.

This is how Tom Standage introduces his topic, tracing the history of the world through the lens of the beverages men drank.

Beer is the beverage of man’s early history. Standage notes how beer almost certainly was discovered rather than invented in the earliest civilization. In Standage’s thinking, beer was a sort of liquid bread–with the added nutritional advantages of Vitamin B12 (from the yeast used to ferment it) and a low level of harmful microorganisms (due to the alcohol content.) Standage traces beer through the ancient Middle East and its majestic empires: Sumer and Egypt.

Wine takes over as the world beverage when Greece rises as a world power. Greece introduced wine to the rest of the world, along with certain patterns of drinking wine. Rome solidified wine’s standing and created the wine snob.

Wine would rule the world for over a millenia–until the tee-totaling Arabs distilled it into spirits. While the Arabian world mostly regarded the spirits as an alchemical ingredient or as a medicine, once imported to Europe, spirits took off as a beverage. Distilled spirits, from a variety of sources, would be the drink of the age of exploration, fueling fleets that colonized far-flung continents. Spirits would also serve a distinct role in the expansion of slavery throughout the world.

The Age of Enlightenment replaced the inebriating spirits with the consciousness-enhancing coffee. Coffee shops became hotbeds for new political, social, philosophical, and scientific thought. Quick on coffee’s heels, tea advanced throughout the world as the British Empire reached its high point in the nineteenth century.

In the twentieth century, a new world power–and a new beverage–would come to dominate the world. America ended its mostly isolationist stance by entering the World Wars–and Coca Cola invaded the globe.

Standage’s A History of the World in 6 Glasses represents one of my favorite sorts of histories–a history that explores how people lived, and which ties social history in with the megolithic historical events like wars. Standage artfully weaves together the daily lives of people and the machinations of nations–all on the threads of six different global beverages.

I don’t know that this is a book that will appeal to everyone–but for those who like this sort of book, this is definitely worth reading. I was impressed with how Standage related information in an interesting yet fair way (for instance, he addresses the use of wine in Christian communion quite nicely). He does a good job of pulling in a variety of disciplines as he writes, talking about the making of each beverage, the various benefits of each (like the aforementioned Vitamin B12 in early beer), the ways in which the beverage was consumed, and the giant world events that led to or resulted from the preparation and trade of the various beverages. I definitely recommend this book (to those who like this sort of thing :-P).

Rating:4 Stars
Category:History
Synopsis:Standage tells the history of the world–through the lens of six beverages that dominated the world stage during different ages.
Recommendation: If you like this sort of book, you’ll like this book. It is an excellent representation of a topical history.

Categories Book Reviews

“Communication: Key to Your Marriage” by H. Norman Wright

1 Comment by

Most of my reading over the past month has fallen under one narrow category: premarital counseling.

Daniel and I were assigned four books to read in eight weeks time–which means we’ve been busy reading–and much of our reading has felt like the modern-day tale of a thirsty man trying to drink out of a fire hydrant.

Communication: Key to Your Marriage by H. Norman Wright has certainly felt that way.

It’s not hard to figure out what Communication is about–but, lest you think you’ve heard everything you need to know about communication… This book is special.

What makes this book so special is that there are questions every couple of pages all the way throughout–questions that don’t have to be discussed with your spouse, but ones that really should be discussed with your spouse.

For example, Wright discusses levels of conversation and then asks about each level: “When does this type of conversation occur in your marriage? Which of you tends to use this style of conversation most?”

After discussing obstacles to listening, Wright asks: “Of the nine obstacles to listening that were listed, which three will you select to work on this week? Which three would your spouse like you to work on? Discuss your lists to discover how you can assist one another.”

In addition to “standard” communication fare, Wright discusses sex differences in communication and personality differences in communication. I nodded my head and “Mmm-hmm”-ed my way through this section of the book, noting place after place where either my femaleness or my personality affects how I communicate. This was also where I felt like a desperately thirsty woman drinking from a fire hydrant.

Daniel and I had a wonderful time discussing the first three or four chapters bit by bit. But with only a couple of days before our next premarital counseling session, we still had a half dozen chapters to go–so we settled in on the couch for an evening of marathon reading.

Unfortunately, Daniel and I read at different paces–and we had so much to read that we just simply couldn’t stop every two pages to discuss.

Hence my (I think our) resolve to revisit this book after we are married, when we have plenty of time to talk through our different communication styles and preferences.

We’ve already benefited from some of the concepts within–and I have little doubt that Communication (both the book and the, uh, concept) will be a great resource for our marriage.

Rating:5 Stars
Category:Marital Communication
Synopsis:H. Norman Wright helps couples learn to communicate well in order to form a stronger marriage
Recommendation: This is definitely a worthwhile book for couples to work their way through–whether they think they have communication “issues” or not. (For the record, Daniel and I feel that we communicate pretty well with one another–but we still have plenty of room for improvement.)

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Always Talk to Strangers” by David Wygant

Leave a comment by

Remember how someone said to never talk to strangers?

David Wygant suggests that to find the love of your life, you must do exactly the opposite.

Since dating is a numbers game, Wygant surmises, the more people you meet, the more people you’ll date. And the more people you date, the better your chance of meeting the love of your life.

Wygant lays out his “three simple tips” in Always Talk to Strangers:

  1. Prepare before you leave the house
  2. Figure out when and where to meet people
  3. Meet them

In 218 very readable pages, Wygant breaks down his three simple tips. First, he says, you need to make sure you’re reasonably attractive to the opposite sex by getting a mental and physical makeover. Second, you need to recognize opportunities to meet people (He suggests blind dating, internet dating, and meeting people around town.) Third, you need to know how to approach someone, introduce yourself, strike up a conversation, and end with their phone number in hand.

I found that Wygant’s overall philosophy makes a lot of sense. The simple fact of the matter is that if you want to marry a man, you first have to meet him. So if you increase your meetings, you should be increasing your odds of marrying.

Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into it than that–but Wygant’s focus is on the odds. He’s not going to tell you how to do things once you’re in a relationship–he’s just telling you how to meet people.

I can respect that. It’s refreshing to read something with such a narrow (maybe?) focus.

As I read, a couple of thoughts kept running through my head. The first was that all that meeting and dating sounds exhausting (On one occasion, the author suggests arranging dates at least four evenings a week–with different people that you’ve met online or around town). The second thought was “This wouldn’t have to just be about getting a date.”

The fact is, the “techniques” for meeting people could just as easily be used simply as a way of developing relationships with people around you. Socially isolated mothers could use it to maybe find some adult conversation on their limited forays out of the home. Christians who work in some form of “ministry” could use it to meet unbelievers with whom to share Christ (Yes, I know there are plenty of us who, at some time in our lives, have had virtually no contact with unbelievers.) Awkward folks (like me) could use it to develop friendships when they’re transplanted into a new context (a new job, a new town, a new school…) The possibilities are endless–and the techniques (recognizing opportunities to meet people in unexpected contexts, directly approaching people, using props to strike up a conversation, asking for someone’s number in a non-creepy way) are useful.

On the other hand, some of the information is specific to seeking out a date as opposed to just a friend. The author talks a fair bit about sex appeal and about telling someone you think they’re attractive (probably not the best “pick up” line for a same-sex friend). Also, the chapters on blind dating and internet dating are pretty much only applicable for someone seeking a date.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Wygant is a secular author–with all the inherent values (or lack thereof). He takes a female liberation standpoint on girls taking initiative in relationships. He’s heavy on “sexy” and not so much on shared values or ideas. He apparently has no qualms about people jumping into the sack with each other at a moment’s notice.

So there are definitely things one wouldn’t want to learn from this book.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting read and one that I sort of wish I could put (partially) into practice.

Truth is, though, I’m struggling to keep my head above water without a lot of additional relationships. I simply don’t have the time or the energy to be actively pursuing a relationship right now. Maybe after I get my dietary manager done with her classes…

Rating:2 Stars
Category:“Relationships”
Synopsis:How to increase your odds of meeting “the love of your life” by meeting more people.
Recommendation: I can’t really decide. If you struggle to meet people (like I do) but really want to meet more people, this could be useful (if taken with a good dose of good sense). Otherwise, well, it’d be pretty pointless, wouldn’t it?