I feel like I write book updates all the time, but somehow I find I've gone a month and a half and all of a sudden I have too many books to talk about. Anyway, here are some short and some long reviews!
When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris: The newest book of essays by Sedaris isn't quite as funny as I have found his other books to be. It's darker. It's kind of gross in some places. It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny. I spent the whole book vaguely uncomfortable. The bit about quitting smoking was the best. Rating: 5 out of 10. A big solid "meh."
Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan: I really like Nathan's books. They are all the things I like about the "chick lit" (still hate that term) genre, and nothing that I don't — and this one was no exception. Delightful! I only have one book of hers left. A few years ago she died of cancer, which is really quite sad. I love to read what else she might have written. Rating: 9 out of 10, partly because I liked it so much, partly because I wish we could have been friends.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert: A summary — French people acting painfully selfishly. I thought it was really well-written, but I had no one to root for. I can definitely understand why the book was so incredibly scandalous, and a lot of it is extremely applicable to today. Rating: 6 out of 10, for being an education in desire, selfishness, lies, and one's ultimate undoing.
The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner: Three women embark on a journey to find out what unites them about their three faiths — Muslim, Christian, and Jew. I really was hoping for more out of this book. I can really understand how they found so much in common with their three faiths, but they never really took a look at what separates the three religions. They didn't seem to tackle the tough questions nor did they disagree on, well, anything. It turned into one big ecumenical discussion. Rating: 5 out of 10 for being just a glimmer of what it could have been had they actually discussed some serious distinctions between their three religions, instead of just focusing on the easy make-you-feel-good things their three faiths share.
Full Speed by Janet Evanovich: Well that's no fun. Apparently I don't get to have a little thumbnail of the book. *Harrumph* Anyway, I needed a book to read while getting my oil changed the other day, and my mom had gotten this through a book exchange so she let me have it. I've never read Evanovich before. My goodness, it was a quick read with absolutely no literary merit. And for once, I was totally okay with that. My brain needed a break. Rating: 5 out of 10 for probably killing brain cells, but it was a fun little romp nonetheless.
The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs: Jacobs tries to fully immerse himself in living the Bible as literally as possible: wearing white, stoning adulterers, praying, strapping the word of God to his forehead, etc. It was fun and very insightful. I didn't find it offensive, though some people might. The book was mostly focused on the Old Testament, with a bit of New thrown in at the end. I thought the OT stuff was very strong, but the book sort of petered off at the end, probably because he was preparing for the birth of his twins and the book sort of took a place on the backburner. Rating: 7 out of 10 for being fascinating, really funny, and for making me consider WHY we behave the way we do as religious people.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: Seriously, was there any way that Carroll was not on drugs when he wrote this? Supremely weird. Rating: 6 out of 10 for being just crazy.
unChristian by David Kinneman: This might have been one of my favorite books of the year. It basically reveals the results of three years of research that delved into what non-Christians think about Christians. Basically, we're seen as hypocritical, conversion-focused, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgemental. Yep. Sounds about right. Sad, isn't it? The book gives hope that Christians can turn this identity around because it's killing the church and not one of those things was preached by Jesus. Focus on relationships and service instead of building membership and cutting ourselves off from the world. The book also had short comments from other authors and I liked this one in particular:
"[In thirty years] I would hope people would look at us and say, "Those Christians are the ones who run in when everyone else is running out. Those Christians are the ones who didn't give up on the crumbling inner cities. Those Christians are the ones who brought peace to Darfur. Those Christians are the ones who put an end to human trafficking. Those Christians are the ones who helped win the war on AIDS around the world. Those Christians are the ones who write those incredible lyrics, pen those unforgettable books, and create artwork that's mesmerizing. Those Christians are the ones who helped my mother when she got Alzheimer's. Those Christians are the ones who were kind to me when I was new to the area. Those Christians are the ones who made me want to believe in God." — Margaret Feinberg.
Rating: 10 out of 10. Fascinating.
* * *
In other news, check out my new blog devoted to my 2009 reading challenge. I'll update in both places, but the other blog will be solely devoted to the challenge and will have more information that this blog.
Read and post comments | Send to a friend
Thanks for stopping by! I'm Cori and I'm happy you've found your way here. If you're wondering why my blog is called "Let's Eat Grandpa," it's an old grammar joke: Let's eat, grandpa! Let's eat grandpa! (Punctuation saves lives.) 
