Good afternoon!  I’ve mentioned before that sometimes its hard to find time to write a weekly post about the news and the books I’m reading, but recent encouragement has enforced the idea that this is a helpful thing to some of you – and personally I find it helps me review as well.  That said, I think that as a writer I feel this inward pressure to write something long and comprehensive, when in reality I don’t think that’s all that helpful.

With that in mind, here’s are few articles and books and such to consider!

Let’s start with the ridiculous and hope you don’t puke. NOTE: this is NOT a parody!

Gold Medalist Michael Phelps talks about his depression. It is a reminder that people – no matter what their social or economic status – are still people. They still have a need for purpose and find some of that outside of themselves.

Similarly: U.K. Appoints a Minister for Loneliness. My theory on why this is going on is that officials in the government are coming to the realization that decades of stamping out religion in the U.K. has its drawbacks.  Now, balance that parliamentary leadership decision with what you see going on over at Buckingham Palace, detailed in this important article: How the Queen – the ‘last Christian monarch’ – has made faith her message.  In fact, if you’re going to read one article, make it that one, because its very encouraging – and relevant as well, since millions are watching The Crown on Netflix.

I’ve been keeping an eye on this story, and talking to medical professionals in this line of work. It’s fascinating: Stem Cells for Knee Problems? U.S. Doctors Investigate.

I have to admit that I laughed pretty hard at this one: Trump Refuses To Let Jesus Into His Heart After Learning He’s From Nazareth.

You’d have to be living under a rock to have missed this one, but just in case: Apple, Capitalizing on New Tax Law, Plans to Bring Billions in Cash Back to U.S.

From The Wardrobe Door blog: Logan Paul and Our Embrace of Two Minutes Hate.  Good points to consider here.

Some wise words here from John Piper: Deep Bible Reading Strategies for the Tired and Busy

So I tried this new google app and didn’t find it all that awesome.  Anyone else find it better than me?

Saved and on-deck for this week: The Sacrifice of Faith. And Trust No One: Kim Philby and the hazards of mistrust.

Books: I saw that Susan Wise Bauer has finally released her new book ‘Rethinking School’.  I’ve read a lot of Bauer’s history books (as have my kids), so I’m really interested to hear her academic and personal take on how parents should approach schooling.

Similarly, this article by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam was interesting. He’s writing about public service as a Christian, and what it means to take up your cross in the political arena. The book isn’t by him but by another (A Theology of Political Vocation: Christian Life and Public Office), but he expresses some of the ideas in hopeful terms. Probably one worth checking out once the ridiculous pricing changes.

Finally, a new book by Nancy Pearcey is looking very interesting: Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality. Some of the questions addressed by Pearcey (from the Amazon description): Are transgender people discovering their authentic self? Is the hookup culture really liberating? Does abortion lead to equality for women? Does homosexuality contradict our biological sex? 

This week I read (and didn’t finish) several disappointing books. Probably got 60% through Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking, my Goodreads review was “A profane literary landscape dotted by tidbits of momentary interest. Sad story – even the funny parts were sad because of how demented they were.” I started listening to this book in the airport during a D.C. trip this week – I figured, hey why not? Wouldn’t it be interesting to hear some of Fisher’s background and struggles? And ya, its interesting, but its also overwhelmingly profane and sad, and really pretty random.

Our family finished George MacDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind. I remembered enjoying this as a kid, but as an adult I found it a complete mess of literary nonsense. Almost completely devoid of plot for large swaths of the 330 pages, I would have quit after page 250 but was overruled. I guess I’ll disclaim that MacDonald was C.S. Lewis’ literary hero, and that I’ve read pretty widely in his prose and always found them wanting. His imagination is good, and sometimes he has brilliant turns of phrases, but his characters are not believable, and he meanders through a plot (if there is one) like a child lost in a cornrow.

Similarly disappointing was the new star wars compilation From a Certain Point of View. This mess is exasperating.  I probably made it through 20 or 30% of the book. It’s a compilation of 40 short stories from the point of view of lesser characters in the Star Wars saga. And by “lesser” I mean REALLY lesser.  We’re talking Jawas and droids you’ve never heard of and imperial henchmen who appear for less than 5 seconds on the screen in the movies. I thought this would be something I’d dig, but for whatever reason it just makes the whole thing seem so…trite…? Not sure if that’s the word…but its awfully boring.

There is hope though – several more good books I’m enjoying right now that I hope to report back on soon.

Until then, have a great weekend!

PJW