Good writers read. So, let’s share what we’re reading with each other each month.Send in what you’re reading with a short thumbs up/down blurb and a photo (.jpg) of yourself and we’ll post on the third Monday of the month.
Email to: sdcwg@yahoo.com
Subject: Reading

	Percent of Americans Who Didn’t Read a Book During the Past Year
	I’m reading The Life of D.L. Moody “by his son.” It is a reprint, page for page, of the original “Official Authorized Edition” written in 1900. William R. Moody, in his introduction, writes, “Early in the spring of 1894 he was asked by an old friend for permission to issue a biography with his approval. This my Father declined to do, and, on that occasion, expressed the wish that I should assume the task when his life-work was ended…If you do not do this work there will be many inaccurate and conflicting ‘Lives.’” Moody’s brief autobiography reads, “Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now, I shall have gone up higher, that is all; out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal—a body that death cannot touch; that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. “I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.”
	I just finished reading Jasmine by April McGowan. Excellent writing. The author captured the pain and struggle of sexual abuse and the effect on family dynamics.
	I recently finished two books by Stephen J. Dubner (co-author of Freakonomics, which I haven’t read yet). Both are memoirs. In Choosing My Religion: A Memoir of a Family Beyond Belief, Dubner writes about the many years he spent trying to discover why his Jewish-born parents both converted to Catholicism in their youth (before they met each other). In the process of researching his ancestry, he finds himself drawn to Judaism, so the book becomes as much about his own transformation as it is a fascinating family history. I love how he describes the book in his introduction as a story about “three noisy souls.” It’s deeply personal, quite funny, and very touching. Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper is another memoir, this one focusing on Dubner’s boyhood obsession with Pittsburgh Steeler running back Franco Harris who in some ways became a replacement for Dubner’s father, who died when Dubner was ten. This book is also deeply personal and honest, almost embarrassingly so, but I guess that’s the point. Both books are worth reading if for no other reason than to appreciate the work of an amazing wordsmith!

Good writers read. So, let’s share what we’re reading with each other each month.Send in what you’re reading with a short thumbs up/down blurb and a photo (.jpg) of yourself and we’ll post on the third Monday of the month.
Email to: sdcwg@yahoo.com
Subject: Reading

• Denny Bolen:I have just finished Don Johnson’s (friend from church) book, How to Talk to a Skeptic. Great read and helpful because I’ve never interacted with people about their world view. Plus I’m very jealous of him having such a great agent. I’m now reading Amanda Luedeke’s book, The Extroverted Writer…very interesting and contains great book marketing ideas.
• Eleanor Lugo: I loved When The Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd.
• Michael Mendoza:

  

  I am currently reading Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey. Her thesis is that Christians have fallen into the trap of secular v spiritual dichotomy which is a faulty worldview. The Christian worldview is a total world view that touches every area of life. Our views of career choices, science, history, culture and presuppositions must be captive to the word of God. One interesting point she made when writing about Christian view of molecular biology is that a single cell was once considered the most simple form of life, but recently scientists have discovered that the simplest single cell is packed with information. What makes this interesting, as she said, is that the word LOGOS in the Bible can also be translated information. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. Through Him all things were made.” Surely, this should be on the Christian’s mind when we study science.

• Carol Karaszewski

  

  My selections from 100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library for this month included Slaughterhouse Five and a reread of Catcher in the Rye (why did they make us read that in high school???). From the NY Times NF Best Seller list I read Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson. For entertainment I indulged in  Full Black, Foreign Influence and The Apolstle by Brad Thor and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.