|
EUGENIA'S BOOK BAG
In this section of the Web site I will give you a tiny review of some of my favorite books. I have more books than nearly everybody I know and I can rarely be induced to part with them. We also have a book group at our church. I hope, as this website gets better established, to enlist that group to recommend books for you. But for the time being, here are a few to get you started. To the best of my knowledge, all are still in print and can be ordered on-line from sites such as Amazon.com. The large chain bookstores such as Barnes and Noble also have websites from which you may order books. Many public libraries allow you to check on line for a title. If it is available, many librarians will put it aside for you if you call and ask. Then maybe a neighbor or friends can pick it up when out and about.
Books To Try
If you have had about as much change as you can handle, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, by William Bridges is a wonderful book! This book is in its second edition and has sold more than 500,000 copies and is available in paperback. Transitions takes you through a step-by-step process for facing and understanding major changes in your life. This is a secular book but I find it to have deep spiritual implications as well.
Transitions: Making Sense of LIfe's Changes by William Bridges
If you are feeling a little distant from God, When God is Silent by Barbara Brown Taylor may provide insight and comfort. This small book, also available in paperback, was taken from a series of lectures to Divinity students at Yale. She addresses how we as Christians hear from God, especially in those times when God seems silent. Taylor is an outstanding writer of the life of faith. All of her books are worth a look.
When God is Silent by Barbara Brown Taylor
If you are in the mood for a good novel, I recommend Miss Garnet’s Angel by Sally Vickers which is one of my all time favorites. This novel tells the story of a British schoolteacher, Julia Garnet, who does something completely out of character after the death of her housemate. She goes to Venice for six months. Juxtaposing Miss Julia’s journey of self discovery with the apocryphal book of Tobit, this wonderful novel tells one woman’s story of love, loss, miracles and redemption. I couldn’t put it down.
Miss Garnet’s Angel by Sally Vickers
If you enjoy historical reflections (and you want to learn a little about me and my background on the side) Cradle of Freedom by Frye Gilliard tells the story of the Civil Rights Movement in the state of Alabama. I found this to be a very readable, compelling account of the days of my childhood in my home state. You will find a bit of my own parents story in it as well.
Cradle of Freedom by Frye Gilliard
If you are struggling with forgiveness (either of yourself or someone else, even God), try this book by a UCC pastor whose many books have always enriched me. She tackles the thorny issue of forgiveness using the Beatitudes as a framework. The most interesting aspect of the book is that she asserts that forgiveness is not a goal to accomplish but a journey in which to travel throughout life. The journey itself provides both the longed for healing and the new and astounding riches of grace along the way
Forgiveness, the Passionate Journey. by Flora Slosson Wuellner
If you are struggling with grief, try Mending the Heart. The author, an Episcopal priest and personal friend who died a few years back, thoughtfully and gently reflects on the death of his young daughter years before and how God brought him through that time of darkness and pain into a new and renewed relationship of trust in God’s goodness and presence in his life. I can’t begin to number how many of these little books (you can read it in one sitting) I have bought and given to friends and parishioners who were hurt-ing.
Mending the Heart by John Claypool
If you are interested in learning just a little about the major world religions, How do you Spell God is a wonderful place to start. With great sensitivity this book helps us see how different religions answer the big questions of life. You will quickly see what makes us different and what we all share in common.
How do you Spell God? by Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Heartman
If you are in the mood for a fun mystery with an interesting historical twist, this book will fill the bill. The story involves the son of Sherlock Holmes who is summoned to the Winter Palace in Czarist Russia just on the eve of the revolution, to unravel a plot that could change the course of history. It is amusing, riveting and just a whole lot of thriller fun
Rasputin’s Revenge by John Lescroart
If you want to be drawn into a relationship between a father and son that is both profound, precious and puzzling, The Road is wonderful. This book takes place in what appears to be a nuclear winter after an Armageddon like end of the world battle. This book is troubling, horrible, sad, and poignant. The author’s style is different and sometimes difficult. I often wanted a dictionary to find my way through his vocabulary. I don’t know why I liked this book so much. It is not me in any way. But I was drawn into it and carry it now inside my soul.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
If you want to be drawn into a relationship between mother and daughter, nobody writing today does that better than Amy Tan. In this book, Tan explores the tumultuous relationship between a Chinese American daughter and her immigrant mother who is beginning the falling journey into dementia. The characters are finely drawn and the story is filled with insight into the culture that formed both women.
The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
If you are in the mood for a compelling memoir that will leave you marveling at what love can survive and what a child can weather, this is one to try. It reads like the best of fiction. Actually it is hard to conceive of the events of this woman’s life. They are peculiar, dysfunctional, and thoroughly engaging. The story is told without one ounce of self-pity and is redemptive and intelligent.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
If you are interested in a quirky modern story of women’s friendship and a journey that changes their lives, try this one. The story is of eight women who just start walking. Not all of the women share our Christian values or moral codes, but they know what it is like to love and to search and find their own lives and voices. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Her Dancing Naked on the Edge of Dawn is also marvelous.
The Elegant Gathering of White Snows by Kris Radish
If you enjoyed The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Sons is even better. This novel takes you right into the lives of Afghani women and the culture that both forms, brutalizes them. It is a fierce novel of circumstances beyond my comprehension. It gives a picture of an Islamic state with all of its hope, cruelty and complexity. Above all it shows the amazing redemptive power of love.
A Thousand Splendid Sons by Khaled Hosseini
If you want to think about God in a new way, particularly in light of tragedy, check this one out. This story is of a man who loses a young daughter in a most brutal way and makes his way back to the scene of his worst nightmare, at the invitation of God, to confront God personally with his pain and anger. Be prepared for an often-surprising look at God, the Trinity, and even God’s wisdom. The images are non-traditional, poignant and as lovely and winsome a depiction of who God is to us, how God loves us and how God joins us.
The Shack by William Young
If you are especially interested in the topic of world religions, here is another one. It tells the story of three women, a Christian, a Muslim, and a Jew who intentionally create relationships of honesty and mutuality as they explore their own faiths and their relationships to the others.
The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Pricilla Warner |