***
The Heart of Christianity by Marcus J. Borg
The Story:
A Pastor's look at Christianity in a modern world and with a modern perspective.
The Review:
I found this to be really readable and very clearly explained. I was impressed with how clearly Borg was able to explain some complicated and sensitive ideas. He provided examples and was really detailed with his reasoning and support.
In addition to the writing, I really liked his perspective. It resonated a lot with me.
I recommend it.
***
My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster
The Story:
You may remember when I read The Tao of Martha last year, and how much I laughed at that. This is by the same author and has the same basic concept. In it she realizes that she is not cultured in anything other than reality TV, and she spends a year trying to become more cultured, more aware, and less afraid to try new things.
The Review:
This had funny parts, but on the whole was less entertaining than The Tao. I like the idea of being cultured, but I don't connect to the way she went about it -- by eating food from other cultures. I think part of the reason I don't connect with that is because I am not afraid of trying food from different cultures or food that is different than the food I grew up with. I also don't really connect with being addicted to reality TV. She talks about watching every season of The Real World since it began (we looked it up, The Real World has been on TV for 19 years!). There are some reality shows that I think are fun (Top Chef), but I don't watch much TV and I just don't really relate.
Skip this one and read The Tao of Martha instead.
***
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Story:
This is a historical fiction tale about the last woman who was executed in Iceland. She was accused and found guilty of murder. This novel tells the story of her time after the trial while she waits for her execution. During this time, there are no prisons where she can be held, so she is sent to live with a family in their house in a nearby town.
The Review:
This was a good and very interesting story. Because she is held in this family's house, the author shows what life is like in Iceland and how the family and the town reacts to her and also how she feels herself. I was very interested in the look at Icelandic culture and how they lived. They talk about how they grow crops and the importance of the sheep and how all the people in the town come and buy parts when a dead whale is found on the beach.
The author says in the note at the end that her purpose was to make Agnes more sympathetic. I thought she had an interesting way of doing this, and while it seemed pretty clear that Agnes did in fact commit murder, I did find myself fairly sympathetic toward her because of her harsh life.
There were a few things that detracted from the story in the writing of it. The author used a constantly shifting point of view, which I found disconcerting and just unnecessary, there were a few extraneous characters that were undeveloped, and the ending was really abrupt.
Despite the drawbacks, this was still a good read, so I recommend it.
***
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
The Story:
In this novel (fiction), Fergus begins with a Cheyenne Indian chief visiting the President of the United States and asking him to send one thousand white women to marry Indian men. That little opening is actually true, an Indian chief asked that and said they would pay a thousand horses for a thousand women. What actually happened was the President said absolutely not. Fergus re-imagines this, and supposed that the government secretly recruited volunteer women and sent an initial group to marry Indian men and have their children. The novel is written as journals from one of the women who is in that group.
The Review:
I thought this was a really interesting premise. I didn't know that an Indian chief had asked that, so I was intrigued. A focus of the journals is how the white women adapt to living life as Indians and what changes they make to the tribe.
I found some things about how the narrator, May Dodd, tells the story really annoying, so I never felt like I was fully immersed in the story. And honestly, toward the end I was skimming quickly so I could finish it for book club. In addition to that it had an abrupt and anti-climatic ending that I was frustrated with because it left a lot unexplained even though it gave the appearance of catching you up on everything.
My recommendation would be to skip this book. But much to my surprise, the ladies in book club really liked it. So maybe it was me.
***
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
The Story:
A non-fiction guide to doing less in our lives, especially at work, but doing the essential things better.
The Review:
I read one chapter out of this book in an article online and was caught by McKeown's story of feeling extreme pressure to go to a work meeting just after his daughter had been born. I was feeling really burnt out at work, and (probably because I was horrified) the article caught my attention and seemed to resonate. So I requested the book from the library. By the time it came, I had pretty much forgotten why I got it, but then I reread the story and remembered.
On to the actual review, this was a super fast read and I liked it. It coaches you through a shift in mindset and then the practical application -- so how do you say no. He also looks at good practices to incorporate to be a better thinker, worker, and more creative -- which interestingly, kept reminding me of The Gifts of Imperfection because the ideas line up. McKeown also tells good stories and incorporates a lot of examples from a huge variety of people -- Ghandi, Michael Phelps, Bill Gates, etc.
The main analogy that McKeown uses to explain why we want to do this is cleaning out the closet. So we all know the basic principles of cleaning the clothes out of the closet, and he says that we want to do it with the activities and commitments in our lives as well.
I recommend this. Even if you aren't thinking about putting it all into practice, it is a good way to think about the demands on our time.
***
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
The Story:
Lamott writes stories (true life stories) about life, turning 50, raising her son, and the things going on in the world. She tries to make sense of things through her faith and live better.
The Review:
This book is full of easy to read short stories that pull a variety of ideas together. Some are funny and some are heavy and heart-wrenching. She owns her flaws and struggles and describes what she is trying and how she approaches life.
Lamott has some beautiful and poignant observations on things like loving other people, loving herself and her body, and accepting everyone. It's a good read, but heavy.
Personally, I found it very heavy and I had a hard time with some aspects of it and I don't relate to some of the things that she so seriously despairs about.
It's a good read, but I can't fully recommend it.
***
An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism by William Stoddart
The Story:
A historical explanation of Buddhism and an explanation of its doctrines.
The Review:
My first reaction is: "Dude's got some attitude." And he's getting really wound up as he tries to dispel myths about Buddhism. The second thing is I feel like he is trying to make Buddhism relateable, so he explains everything in terms of how we find the same idea in Christianity. I do see overlap in the ideas/doctrines/practices of Christianity and Buddhism and I like that it is there. But I also feel like Buddhism can actually stand on its own and be understood on its own and some of the misconceptions that Stoddart is trying to dispel might come because we are trying so hard to relate it to what we know.
I liked reading about the history of Buddha and how Buddhism spread. Some of the specific doctrines are confusing, so part of me kept thinking, "Um, Four Noble Truths, let's go back and spend more time there."
This was a good overview, if you can overlook the attitude.
***
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Story:
As the subtitle says, this is "a guide to spiritual enlightenment." The idea is to relieve stress and suffering by living in the present moment.
The Review:
This book is arranged in a question and answer format where the questions are lumped into specific topics so each chapter focuses on an idea. I thought the structure was interesting and allowed Tolle to specifically respond to particular things that generally we would be thinking. One thing I particularly liked was that there were a number of specific meditations to try.
The main idea of the book is that right now in this precise moment we are living in, there are no problems. If there were a problem right now, you would be dealing with it, not worrying about it. So basically our minds just create problems for us by generating this worry about things that are in the past or things that are in the future. I totally believe in the power of our minds to create problems, because I know how much stress my mind can create. So I want to be able to practice this more and get better at staying present right now.
There are some things that Tolle says or claims that were a little over my head and difficult to understand, but overall I thought the book was really good and I definitely recommend it.
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