March Reading (2019)

Dear Reader,

I only finished three books in March partly because I have been reading a lot of shorter articles on education (see this series).  Here they are:

All That’s Good by Hannah Anderson — I heard about this book through a podcast that interviewed the author. I was impressed by what she said so decided to read her book. Basically she explicates Philippians 4:8 and discusses how we cultivate discernment. I think that we would largely be on the same page on a lot of things. There were a couple of small points I could quibble about — I am uncomfortable with her talk of discernment as a gift some people have and other don’t, for example. And stylistically, I was not crazy about the book. I think it is like much contemporary Christian lit though. It uses a lot of long examples and stories that aren’t always well tied to the content. But the basics of her ideas are solid and biblical. I particularly liked her point about the power of art to draw us to God (and I quoted it in this post).

Dr. Thorne by Anthony Trollope — I had never read any Trollope before but if all his books are like this one, I am hooked. This is a very predictable story but it is done with humor. Characters have names like Dr. Fillgrave. The author is often self-referential and talks about his story and how he writes it. It was an easy read and thoroughly enjoyable.

The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway — I did a lot of driving this month so I did this one as an audiobook. A group of ladies from my church are getting together to discuss it. It turns out there is some controversy about this book; the house churches in China are split over it. It is quite a moving book. Pretty much everything that could happen to Brother Yun did. It is a powerful story and he seems to give all the glory to God. He seems quite biblical if not overly theological if that makes sense. I found the issues the book raises (perhaps tangentially) about how the church grows and what it’s needs are as it grows interesting. In light of recent persecutions in China, it is a good book to read.

What are you reading?

Nebby