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books...fiction PEACE LIKE A RIVER
Lyrical, haunting, to break your heart. "The story of a father raising his three children in 1960s Minnesota...is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world." (From the book jacket.) It is all of that and more--an amazing study of faith in the modern world. THE STAND by Stephen King I know, I know, everyone's read it, but after reading King's book ON WRITING, I had to go get one of his novels. Okay...I'm a believer. Wow...what an incredible story, but does anybody really read this stuff for fun? ANGELA'S ASHES by Frank McCourt Another one that needs no intro. The suffering is crushing, but the lyric nature of McCourt's spirit makes this one soar. I wept, but you may be surprised to know that this may be the hardest a book's ever made me laugh. JIM THE BOY by Tony Early. A gentle book about a boy being raised by his single mother and a group of men called the uncles. Begins on his tenth birthday and ends on his eleventh. He meets his past, watches a whole new world rolling in. My favorite scene is the arrival of electricity and the uncles and Jim watching it lighting up their world for the first time. There was both joy and sadness in seeing the darkness set back, set aside. A nice read that made me catch my breath a couple of times, but in the end, felt lighter than it wanted to be. A TRIP TO THE STARS by Nicolas Christopher. Stars, spiders, the journey of a boy and his aunt separated by a kidnapping, and the long journey that follows. Glorious. | WORTH A LOOK
ON WRITING
The man works, and works some more, taking nothing off nobody (except his wife). A challenging and inspiring read, saying along with everyone else that it's about putting words down day after day. Lots of great practical stuff. If you're a writer, get it. STORY by Robert McKee The definitive book on story, at least for me. Rich in detail and epic in scope, this one tears story apart and looks at the inner mechanisms. What I love is that he makes a strong case for structure not being cultural, but innately human. THE DIVINE CONSPIRACY by Dallas Willard Dallas Willard is rocking my world. All my paradigms about the Kingdom of God, Jesus, and what salvation means are being turned upside down. Heady, but deeply practical. Frankly shocking in its implications. Richard Foster says "this is the book I've been searching for all my life." Me, too. REACHING FOR THE INVISIBLE GOD by Philip Yancy So Christian living isn't the piece of cake we all thought it might be. Yancy laments the disconnect between the New Testament descriptions of Kingdom living and the postmodern version--much the same issue that Willard is addressing. These aren't different answers (not exactly), but Yancy's not nearly as concrete in his response to this dilemma as Willard's book. Nonetheless, rich thought here, and deeply comforting. COMMUNITY The Other Side of Self. Gary McCaleb Hillcrest Publishing, 2000 A great book about community. One reviewer said it's like walking into a medieval chapel: "austere, sparse, and yet full of meaning that reaches our innermost soul." I agree. ART & FEAR Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. David Bayles and Ted Orland Capra Press, 1993 Very practical and straight-forward discussion of the processes of making art. How to discover your own work, keep your voice, find a place for your work to go, and how to keep from stopping, which is what the authors say happens to most. Worth your time to read. FOR THE TIME BEING Annie Dillard Vantage, 1999 Hard to put down. Ms. Dillard roams around ideas of clouds, and sand, and evil, and now, in these startling essays that, in the end, make a pretty strong assault on the mystery of things. Like rich chocolate--I can only read so much at a time before I start to weep, or simply have to turn away. Her gaze is like none other. THE GRACE OF GREAT THINGS Creativity and Innovation Robert Grudin Ticknor and Fields, 1990 Lays out what he calls an ethos of inspiration. A pretty solid outline for the kind of life the working artist seeks if she wants to encourage inspiration to come along. |
leaving ruin...the novel
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