“This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.” Last week was a hard week for many of us. Facing the reality of Trump’s inauguration, I needed a book that was beautiful, calming, and familiar. As big as my stack of “to be read” books was, I needed something that I knew would give me temporary comfort. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson was really my only option. A favorite of President Obama’s (and a Pulitzer winner), Gilead tells the story […]
Not as transformative as its predecessor, but beautiful nonetheless
About a year ago, I picked up a stunning book that quickly became my go-to book recommendation. Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead was about an elderly, dying pastor. Desperate to leave something of himself behind to his young son, Reverend John Ames composed letter after letter to the boy, talking about his life, his insecurities, his love of family, his faith in God, and his unshakable belief that the world was a beautiful gift. Astonishingly written, Gilead was a meditation on what it meant […]
Was the son of a preacher man
A good friend and I have become book pen pans: we read things, then mail them to each other. It pretty much rules. This book was one she sent to me, with the caveat that it was pretty sad. I struggled through it and put it down many times, but by the time I was done, it was like swallowing unpleasant medicine: good for you in the long run, though a bit hard to get down. This is a quiet novel about life and death […]
Like a whiff of my mother’s perfume.
This book dug up a lot of feelings, so get ready for a bit of autobiography. I grew up religious in the evangelical persuasion. For many years, until my early 20s, I was a True Believer: pious, traditional, and convinced that we were both right and righteous. I memorized all the verses to all the hymns. I read theology books way past my grade level. I studied the minor prophets. I was the AWANA poster child. And then I grew up a little and started learning how […]