2005

2005

Crossing the Threshold of Hope. John Paul II.
I admire the pope. He has a sharp mind, and a loving heart. He is
personal and yet distant. I have much respect for his Church,
especially certain traditions, it’s loyalty, compassion and
universality. The Catholic Church seems to grow and change and remain
contemporary. The pope’s discussion of Mary is interesting and helps
me to understand Catholic devotion to her. As he writes, there is a
sense of mysticism and faith as well as compassion that is attractive
and inspiring.

The Bourne Identity. Robert Ludlum.
A fun, spring break read. Intrigue. I’ll probably read the next in the
series when Chris visits in July.

Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society.
Daniel Barenboim and Edward W. Said, ed. Ara Guzelimian.
Much of it is over my head, but nonetheless inspiring. I enjoy reading
interviews and conversations, especially between friends and experts
in their respective fields. Reading the book inspired me to know more
and to love what I do. Recommended the book to Birk, it’s a book he
could wrap his head around.

Alone with God. Richard Wurmbrand.
I began this book last year and slowly read through it. What a killer
of a book. Thank you God for it. Violence against a hard heart.

The Four Loves. C.S. Lewis.
Should be required reading for the human race, especially people
living in small Christian community. I wrote down many quotes. My
first real experience with his non-fiction. It is tight, compelling,
and thought-provoking. I need to brush up on my Greek mythology,
paradigms he uses so often and redeems. Dry, candid, and witty, with a
powerhouse ending in the spirit of Chesterton’s Orthodoxy.

How to win the Culture War, Peter Kreeft.
Good to read the book again. Very timely. I want the whole E for
Everyone crew to read it. At various points I was challenged at others
brought to tears. What a high call we have on our lives. He lands his
blows. The conversation between Kreeft and his guardian angel is
perfect. I never, never, never… want to give up. God I want to wholly
want to wholly be a saint.

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens.
One of my favourites. I read the book while on vacation with my
brother Chris and dear friends, Chad and Nicole, on a beach in East
Malaysia: believe me when I say, It was the best of times.

To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee.
My favourite American novel. Scout is so real and believable. Often, I
laughed out loud. Emotionally resonant and heart breaking at times.
The characters jump off the page. Atticus and Scout are two of my
favourite characters in fiction.

Here and Now. Henry Nouwen.
At times a bit hoity toity, but overall very readable, devotional,
challenging, and inspiring. I want to love God more, trust him, live,
pray, and serve more.

Elanor Rigby. Douglas Coupland
He does it again. A sad and funny book about loneliness. I read it on
the plane ride home and laughed out loud, not caring that my fellow
passangers were annoyed. I couldn’t help it.

The Everlasting Man. G.K. Chesterton.

Much of this book was over my head, I live in a different time with
many different reference points. Chesterton is so quotable, it’s
astonishing. Exquisite moments where you are cut to the heart, break,
then soar. A look at the history of religion, philosophy, and the
world as informed by the incarnation of Christ. Chesterton, I can’t
wait to talk.

Dirty Dan Harris’. Stephen R. Neufeld.

Had the honour of reading Steve’s manuscript and to give
input. an author to watch. look forward to his publishing career, and
walking with him as a fellow writer.

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Annie Dillard
Dillard wrote this book when she was twenty-seven. It went on to win
the Pulitzer Prize. Her writing and vision of the world as a violent
act of creation supersaturated in intricacy challenges and inspires us
to take intrest in a phenomenal world, heave our pain and confusion at
God as one of many forms of praise, and to see.

The Ragamuffin Gospel. Brennan Manning
I finished this book, having read it over a number of months. A good
reminder of the overwhelming yet simple doctrine of grace. Thanks
Wei-Keng for the gift.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Mark Haddon
A funny and heartbreaking murder mystery about a boy with autism.
Chesterton was right about logicians.

2006

The Miracle Worker, William Gibson.
I saw his Christmas play, Herond the Nut… and was
amazed. When I found this play on the shelf at Powell’s in
Seattle, and for a few dollars, I bought it impulsively. It is a play
with punch, very physical, one I want to see on the stage in my
lifetime. Gibson inspires me to write for the stage. Someday….
His line, “obedience, without understanding, is a form of
blindness too,” could have left me on the floor for hours.

With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray.
My friend Melanie Hurlbut introduced me to Murray during my School of
Biblical Studies in Malaysia. Though I already owned a copy, I bought
it at OM India’s bookshop for a few Rupees. I read through the
book daily on my trip with the E for Everyone crew from Hyderabad,
India to Kho Lak, Thailand. It challenges me and reminds me to come,
no matter what to our generous Heavenly Father. I’m excited
about learning more about how to pray as I continue to read the book
throughout my life.

Such a Long Journey, Rohan Minstry.
It’s rare that I don’t like a book I pick up to read.
Unfortunately this was one of them. Perhaps I shouldn’t have
read the back cover of the novel first: the list of awards and
critical praise for the book raised my expectations and likely did not
set me up for success. It was interesting to read parts of the book in
its setting while in Mumbai on travels. I did like the ending which is
usually the part of a story, even stories I enjoy, that I am most
critical.

The Valkyries, Paulo Cohelo.
This was the first Cohelo novel I have read, and likely will not be
the last. A number of my friends – smart, reading friends – have raved
about The Alchemist. The book is stunning in its vision and
honesty, and a bit trippy as well. I read the book on a bus ride
between Chiang Mai, Thailand and Bangkok. The airconditioning hardly
worked, I was dead tired, it was dark since we were traveling through
the night, and I read by my friend’s pencil flashlight. But the
story so gripped and pulled me inside itself, that I couldn’t
put it down. Like Paulo, we should all covenant to no longer raise our
hand against ourself. And, like him (and you’ll understand this
more clearly if you read the book) I think I need the courage of a
woman, too.

The Old Testament Template, Landa Cope.
A good introduction and challenge to the Kingdom Gospel; a challenge
to the Church to not just ’save ‘em’ and leave
‘em, but to go back to the faith roots of the Old Testament and
learn from Moses about how to disciple and grow a nation, and perhaps
in doing so change the world.

My Life in Pictures, Malcolm Muggeridge.
Holy smokes! What a life. I’m inspired to write, to be, and do
it honestly. A teacher in India, an man of intrigue in Africa, a voice
of truth, and doubt, and ultimately faith in Europe. I’m
reminded of a book by Dr. Suess a friend gave to me when I completed
University: Oh the Places You Will Go. The book inspires me
to consider possibilities and to dream at a time when I very much need
to do both.

The Hiding Place. Corrie Ten Boom, with John and
Elizabeth Sherrill.

This book is a must read. I’m fascinated by this time in
world history. Such a time of darkness and change where the only
thing more surprising than the evil and cruelty of the Nazis was the
courage and faith of people who suffered under them and resisted them.
Full of treasures, what is more fascinating still is the story of how
a family lived a practical, day-in-day-out life of faith and followed
the path of obedience to God and his principles into a concentration
camp. A book that rattles and overwhelms, teaching much about love,
forgiveness, endurance, and the Divine through a story that does not
posture or put on airs. Miraculous, honest, terrible, but full of
wonder too.

Blankets, Craig Thompson.

The first graphic novel I have read, I found it in Kuala Lumpur
during my friend Colt’s wedding weekend, but didn’ t have
the Rinngit to purchase it then. Fast forward a year or so later and
it fell off the shelf in my local bookstore. I was thrilled to find
it and I read it in one sitting. The story of young man who grows up
in a fundamental Christian home who loves to draw but is guided by
poor shepherds who cannot see that the very thing he was created to do
is the best way he can serve and please God. A truthful story of
first love and finding self against the backdrop of hypocrisy, purity,
and condemnation: a wonderfully styled, award-winning page-turner.
And a sad comment on how legalism can so tightly grip Christians until
there seems only two choices: leave the fold or stifle and choke.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen.

An enjoyable summertime read with the right amount of romance,
humour, and intrigue. It’s so nice to read great characters
meet their match. Impossible to not imagine Knightley and MacFadyen
as Lizzy and Darcy.

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Anne Rice.

The best book I’ve read this year! Exquisite and
imaginitive, it makes me love God more and sit in wonder contemplating
the foolishness, the wisdom, and the great risk of the Incarnation. I
can’t wait for her next volume in the story (an account of
Christ’s childhood from the Christchild’s perspective) and
can’t believe how thorough and relentless Rice is in her
research. The book is worth price of purchase for the Author’s
Note included at the back, with its list of authors and books and
words about the story behind the writing of the novel. I’ve
never had a literary character stick with me for so many days!

Night, Elie Wiesel.

You don’t want to imagine what happened, you try to put
yourself in the horror and cannot. Such evil and darkness,
that’s why I want to read his follow up autobios, Dawn
and Day, to read what he has learned or concluded.

Dawn, Elie Wiesel.

An eerie, occasional book that examines the execution, by the hand
of the narrator, of an imprisoned British soldier at the hand of a
Jewish terrorist/freedom fighter.

Day (formerly known as The Accident), Elie Wiesel.

I read Dawn and Day as autobiography, but it turns out I was wrong.
At this point I imagine the books as fictionalized tails Wiesel has
constructed to examine themes of meaning, lonelieness, death, and life
after horror. Wiesel paints a face of evil and suffering that is both
haunting and disturbing.

The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde.

A breath of fresh air, a fun read in a landscape of otherwise
serious and heavy reading. Fforde creates a world where literature is
religous, dodos are reintroduced to humanity, time and reality bend
frequently, and where literary figures can be kidnapped and held for
ransom. I look forward to what follows for Thursday Next. Thanks to
Chris for the suggest.

Humility, Andrew Murray.

I’m sad to say that too much of this book was far over my
head. An important meditation on the humility of Christ and
exhortation to get with the program. A good way to finish the year,
hopefully 2007 will see more humility in my life.

2007

Silence, Shusaku Endo.

Regarded by many as his masterpiece, Endo’s novel tells the
story of a Portuguese missionary in early 17th century Japan who
becomes an apostate. The theme of the book centres around the agony
and mystery of the silence of God, made more resounding with the death
of His martyrs. I have never been so hammered and anguished by a
book. What is apostasy, the book asks and, can apostasy,
like faith go only skin deep? From my personal
curriculum’s Reading List at Scribing. Read Phillip Yancey’s
article about Endo’s book here.

Goodbye Chunky Rice, Craig Thompson.

I ventured again into the world of graphic novels, of course
playing it safe by reading further into Thompson’s work. A fun,
quick read about love, relationships, and needing to find home. Not a
personal autobiography.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Hmm. Okay, let be upfront: I didn’t read every word. What
happened? I know it’s on almost every one’s top 10-100
list and I know I’m supposed to hail it as sheer genius. I
don’t deny that. It was beautifully written, I just
wasn’t prepared and so I feel like I need Cole’s
notes.

Monday After the Miracle, William Gibson.

A continuation of the story of Annie Sullivan and her student and
‘life work’ Helen Keller. A play that examines the
inseparability of the two heroines lives, Annie’s awakening to
romantic love, and a life ruled by work, fame, and the public’s
interest. Fiery, sad, and lively. This guy is good!

Lost in a Good Book, Jasper Fforde.

The adventures of Thursday Next continue in Fforde’s second
chronicle about the humble heroine. The plot is at play with truth,
reality, time, space, and literature. It’s amazing what Fforde
gets away with and how innovative is his imagination. Enjoyable to
the last page and laugh-out-loud fun.

Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky.

The story of this books journey to publication, if you have not yet
heard, is incredible. And unfinished novel by a French the Russian
novelist who lived in France and was sent by the Germans to Auschwitz
where she died. A very compelling read. The appendices leave you
breathless and sweet with bitterness.

The Power of Blessing, Terry and Melissa Bone.

I love this book. I heard Terry speak the first time I attended
Streams Church. Everyone should read it (especially before having
children!)