Posts tagged ‘books’

Finding time to read

By Monica Brand, 10 February, 2010, 8 Comments

books-to-read2

Home schooling.

House keeping.

Church commitments.

Blogging.

Email, Facebook, Twitter, Ning groups, LOST (yeah! it’s back.)

With all of these good (and maybe not so good) things to do and occupy our time, how do you find the time and energy to read?

Seriously! I want to know. Because I’m having a hard time keeping up.

I remember back to my lazy college days of when I had an abundance of free time to just ignore the outside world and do nothing but read to my heart’s content. O, the amount of pages I could fly through! Of course, back then I was without household to manage, sans children and husband. I had oodles of free-reading time.

Life was lazy from one wonderful book to the next. Now, not so much.

My to-be-read book pile gets larger. My heart wants to read more. Yet daily life. . . and I like reading blogs, Twitter, and my love for LOST.

So.

How do you fit it all in? All the books, yet still manage to life a balanced life?

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Insert witty title here

By Monica Brand, 26 January, 2010, 7 Comments

I haven’t participated in the “Nightstand” Mr. Linky at 5 Minutes for Books in quite awhile. Why? Honestly I have no idea. Probably something called Life. So I jump back into the fun with what I currently have in my reading pile (you know, that book stack tower that never seems to end due to library and bookstore trips, friends lending books, and books given as presents. Fun, fun.)

Without further delay: My Pile of Books

Miss Read: Village School by Dora Jessie Saint. I opened to Page One this morning. Too early to comment other than to say, I’ve heard lots of good things about Miss Read. No pressure, Miss Read, no pressure.

Problogger (Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income) by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. Stop laughing. As a  mere amateur blogger, I read this to learn more about the how-to’s of a well-kept blog.

Black by Ted Dekker. I don’t know if I will ever get into this book properly, as I’ve tried with the first chapter and, well. . . .  we will see.

The Tipping Point (How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference) by Malcolm Gladwell. Thoroughly enjoying it. This was a Christmas present to Doc, and he didn’t think I would like it, but I knew I would – that’s one of the reasons I gave it to my husband. Sneaky, huh? This book is worthy of it’s own little post, and I’m not done reading, so you have to wait for more commentary here.

Lastly, I’m still poking my nose in Committed (A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage) by Elizabeth Gilbert, my current blogging inspiration, which also happens to be a whopping 55% off at Amazon. This won’t do, people! How the heck is Liz supposed to stay in New Jersey if her freshly-printed latest is too inexpensive. Don’t these publishers and retailers know the woman has to pay New Jersey property taxes, car insurance, blah, blah, etc., etc. Sheesh.

~Yo, Monica! Didn’t you borrow Committed from the library?

Um.

~That’s what I thought. Perhaps you should mention that you didn’t buy it either, you Library Rat.

Hey!  That’s it for me this month.

Happy Reading!

What's On Your Nightstand?

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Doctrine, theology and . . . orthodoxy?

By Monica Brand, 18 January, 2010, 1 Comment

Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris

The word orthodoxy literally means “right opinion.” In the context of Christian faith, orthodoxy is shorthand for getting your opinion or thoughts about God right. It is teaching and beliefs based on the established, proven, cherished truths of the faith.

(page 14, Dug Down Deep)

Orthodoxy.

It’s mentioned frequently in Dug Down Deep (Unearthing What I Believe and Why it Matters) by Joshua Harris. (Much thanks to the publisher for my free copy.) When I think of the term orthodoxy, I immediately think of the Brian D. McLaren book, A Generous Orthodoxy, a somewhat-controversial book (From what I know of it, as I have yet to read it. My library doesn’t have it, and when I once requested it from BookSwim, it was a no-go. Boohoo.)

Harris was raised in the Evangelical church, so I was surprised to see him using the term so liberally in his latest book.

On the back cover:

. . . seemingly worn-out words like theology, doctrine, and orthodoxy were the pathway to the mysterious, awe-filled experience of truly knowing the living Jesus Christ.

And:

. . . orthodoxy isn’t just for old men but for anyone who longs to behold a God who is bigger and more real . . .

Interesting.

Skeptical Monica doesn’t like this word one bit. Sorry, Josh. Aren’t doctrine and theology enough? Must we Evangelicals take on orthodoxy too?

To me – the great Bible scholar that I am *wink* – orthodoxy is the tradition of men. And this Christian ain’t too keen on the traditions. Just give me Jesus and his Word.

Thoughts? Opinions? Disgust I would dare mention such serious topics on my normally lighthearted blog?

What does the word orthodox mean to you?

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The social justice fad?

By Monica Brand, 12 January, 2010, 9 Comments

Simple Compassion by Keri Wyatt Kent

Have you noticed? Social justice is a popular topic for the online church.

I spend a lot of time online reading blogs, surfing social media and listening to the chatter of the connected, Internet church. And it seems a lot of online Christians are into social justice.

Social justice is all over Sojourners. Blogs, blogs, blogs. So many blogs. (I wish I had more of these examples to share, as I’ve read a lot about this subject from various Christian bloggers, but I never bookmarked them.)

Of course there are books. Justice in the Burbs and The Irresistible Revolution, and there are more I’ve never read. And now Simple Compassion by Keri Wyatt Kent (I received a free copy from the publisher.) There is even a Social Justice Reading Challenge.

I’m not against helping people in need; I know what the Bible says. I’m not immune to feeling the pull toward social justice issues. Heck, I even have a social justice category here on this blog.

Still I’m concerned.

Is all of this a fad, the latest trend in our Christian-online clique? Or is this a true, Holy Spirit inspired move of God? In my flesh-and-blood church, I hear little about sex trafficking, clean water, or poverty, all popular issues within the online church.  That strikes me as odd.

Christians, we mustn’t forget it’s a grace salvation, not a works salvation.  Give to the poor, support organizations like Compassion International, commit to helping those in need. These issues of social justice are important, and must not be ignored, but let’s not forget the command by Jesus in Matthew 28.

.  .  . go and make disciples of all nations.

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Are paper books dead?

By Monica Brand, 4 January, 2010, 12 Comments

I do. I don’t know how long it will take. You know, we love stories and we love narrative; we love to get lost in an author’s  world. That’s not going to go away; that’s going to thrive. But the physical book really has had a 500-year run. . . But no technology, not even one as elegant as the book, lasts forever.

That’s Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, mastermind behind that eReader gadget known as Kindle answering the question posed by Newsweek magazine: Do you think that the ink-on-paper book will eventually go away?

Now I ask you -

jeff-bezos-with-kindle

Will the traditional paper book cease to exist?

Is technology that powerful?

Are we so addicted to our electronics that the eBook will send the paper book into extinction?

And do we care?

image: scrapetv.com

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Challenge me

By Monica Brand, 8 December, 2009, No Comment
Here’s another online reading challenge for the upcoming new year: the 451 Challenge. There’s an interesting assortment of books to chose from, and even if a book challenge isn’t your cup of (reading) tea, I encourage you to click over to browse the list.

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