I am going to borrow an idea from MamaT and do quick reviews of the books I read this year, instead of planning longer posts in my head and then never writing them. One of my resolutions for this year was to be more purposeful in my book selections. Not so many random grabs from the shelves by the library checkout desk -- instead I would have a Plan! Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time! Galsworthy! Proust! In French!
Yeah, well.
Random selection #1: I grabbed Patrick Madrid's Surprised by Truth 2 while we were visiting friends over New Year's and brought it home to finish. It's another volume of conversion stories, and it shares the strengths and weaknesses of the first Surprised by Truth. There's a lot of good apologetics information but there's also a lot of repetition, since the same questions come up again and again. My favorite story came from a woman who went to Latin America as a missionary and found herself with big questions. Chief among them: how to foster discipleship among people who can't read if your emphasis is on personal scripture study. I'd never thought of the importance of the liturgy's proclamation of the word in that light before.
Random selection #2: SAHM I Am, a pleasant piece of fluff from the library's new books display. It's a 21st-century epistolary novel, composed entirely of emails from a fictional loop for Christian mothers. I suppose it's obligatory for a novel featuring email to have an episode in which the wrong name is typed in the TO: field and disaster ensues, but Allison Pearson did it better. Still, the ending made me laugh and it was a quick read, so I won't complain.
And random selection #3: Loud and Clear. My husband snagged this one for me from the sale rack at the used bookstore. Anna Quindlen writes so gracefully that-- that-- that I am all hung up trying to find a graceful ending to my own sentence. This is a collection of essays and speeches from roughly 1993-2004, a mix of thoughts on motherhood and calls to political action. I disagree with Anna Quindlen in predictable ways but I always enjoy her writing.
The three books I am reading now are all Purposeful Selections. We'll have to see if the purposeful wins out over the random for the year or not.
Three books already?? I look forward to your reviews because I am forever looking for book suggestions.
Posted by: Amie | January 14, 2006 at 04:03 AM
Have you read Living Out Loud? That's the first book I read of hers, back in journalism school. I met her that semester at our department's writers' conference. She made a big impression on me, the confidence just oozes from her. I disagree with her politically in predictable ways too, but love her writing. (haven't read her fiction yet, though)
Posted by: Kris | January 16, 2006 at 06:18 PM
A Dance to the Music of Time is the best. I have been reading it for over 25 years and enjoy it more every time. Begin at the beginning and go on to the end. It is just wonderful.
Posted by: LadyHatton | January 22, 2006 at 04:44 AM