What do I want to do on my birthday? Share books with the world, of course. Good books for all the reading and all the thinking. I wish today could be the official book day where everyone reads good books the whole day. In my dreams, we would all start reading as we made a cup of coffee or tea and got down to a full day of reading, thinking, and sharing.
I have not shared many recent reads lately, but my bookishness is not diminished at all. One after the other, I go through books. Devouring them with no pause. All of these were engaging me in different ways and I thought I would share.
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
The fascinating world of fungi, mushrooms, and lichen is largely undiscovered to this day. There's not too much research out there on this underground mycelial world that connect tree root systems and helps clean up toxic waste. Merlin takes us along many ideas and studies through the book, keeping it very engaging and interesting - it really is a page-turner, which is not the norm for a science kind of book about nature. I have always been fascinated by forests and trees, and with that the mushrooms that pop up overnight. Now I know why that happens, and how the mycelial network underground works some magic in ways were are only beginning to grasp. What an interesting world to explore.
Words Are My Matter by Ursula Le Guin
I recently heard a writer I admire say that Ursula was a writer that made her want to write. I have read one series of books by Ursula (The Earthsea books) and since then I have wanted to explore more of her writing, and here was my chance. Stumbling upon this book in Savannah, I picked it up to read her essays and talks given about the topic of writing and the creative process. Very insightful and interesting to read her thoughts on the fantasy genre and the publishing industry. Now I will need to grab some of her other stories to read, knowing more about her.
I recently heard a writer I admire say that Ursula was a writer that made her want to write. I have read one series of books by Ursula (The Earthsea books) and since then I have wanted to explore more of her writing, and here was my chance. Stumbling upon this book in Savannah, I picked it up to read her essays and talks given about the topic of writing and the creative process. Very insightful and interesting to read her thoughts on the fantasy genre and the publishing industry. Now I will need to grab some of her other stories to read, knowing more about her.
Art and Faith by Makoto Fujiruma
Mako is an artist who works slowly, crushing minerals to paint with and using his time of creating works of art as a meditative and slow process on purpose. He writes about that process and how essential that is for our faith, as it all is interwoven. I enjoy his thoughts on the methods of creation and his gentle ways of explaining it from his heritage background. Using techniques from the Japanese, like Kintsugi (the art of using broken vessels and putting them together again fused with gold to make them into an even more valuable and beautiful object), he paints beautiful pictures of faith through the arts. His thinking pulls much from N.T. Wright's lucid explanations of New Creation and how what we create matters and how it is building the heavenly kingdom here and now.
Mako is an artist who works slowly, crushing minerals to paint with and using his time of creating works of art as a meditative and slow process on purpose. He writes about that process and how essential that is for our faith, as it all is interwoven. I enjoy his thoughts on the methods of creation and his gentle ways of explaining it from his heritage background. Using techniques from the Japanese, like Kintsugi (the art of using broken vessels and putting them together again fused with gold to make them into an even more valuable and beautiful object), he paints beautiful pictures of faith through the arts. His thinking pulls much from N.T. Wright's lucid explanations of New Creation and how what we create matters and how it is building the heavenly kingdom here and now.
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
Knowing that this book would be close to Sayers' own experiences, as she worked in the advertising industry for many years, I was ready for the wit and nature of the advertising environment, including quirky catch-phrases. Here, Lord Peter goes undercover, so to speak, taking up his alternate ego Death Bredon, to work at the advertising agency after a mysterious death (murder? suicide?) occurs down a stairwell at the office. There is much wit in this book, phrases and thinking about how the advertising in our lives affect us, but also this story dives into an underground world of drug trafficking and the brutal business of that world. There are layers to this one in that way, and it is always an enjoyable ride when D.L.S. is the writer taking you places.
Knowing that this book would be close to Sayers' own experiences, as she worked in the advertising industry for many years, I was ready for the wit and nature of the advertising environment, including quirky catch-phrases. Here, Lord Peter goes undercover, so to speak, taking up his alternate ego Death Bredon, to work at the advertising agency after a mysterious death (murder? suicide?) occurs down a stairwell at the office. There is much wit in this book, phrases and thinking about how the advertising in our lives affect us, but also this story dives into an underground world of drug trafficking and the brutal business of that world. There are layers to this one in that way, and it is always an enjoyable ride when D.L.S. is the writer taking you places.
Subversive: Christ, Culture, and the Shocking Dorothy L. Sayers by Crystal Downing
The more I read of Sayers and learn of her, the more I am drawn to her and her thoughts. She's brilliant, and this book explores more of the subversive ways she inserts the gospel truths into all she did. She had a direct, non-emotional approach to life and religion. She believed in writing truth in a language that people could understand, which caused a lot of ripples of shock back in the 1940s when she published plays and dramas that had Jesus and his Disciples speaking in a modern (non-King James Version) language, even using slang (shocking!). Yet, those writings were able to reach people who never would have tuned in to the radio broadcasts and they heard the gospel message. That is a huge point she was trying to make.
The more I read of Sayers and learn of her, the more I am drawn to her and her thoughts. She's brilliant, and this book explores more of the subversive ways she inserts the gospel truths into all she did. She had a direct, non-emotional approach to life and religion. She believed in writing truth in a language that people could understand, which caused a lot of ripples of shock back in the 1940s when she published plays and dramas that had Jesus and his Disciples speaking in a modern (non-King James Version) language, even using slang (shocking!). Yet, those writings were able to reach people who never would have tuned in to the radio broadcasts and they heard the gospel message. That is a huge point she was trying to make.
The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne
Your eyes do not deceive you. A.A. Milne, the author of all the Winnie the Pooh stories, first wrote a murder mystery, his only one, in the 1920s. This is a classic golden age mystery (akin to Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers) now sometimes dubbed as cosy mysteries. I suppose they are cosy because they would never happen in our own lives, so they are escapes. But do not be fooled, there is murder and darkness of the soul being revealed by the end as the murderer is identified. I like how murder mysteries reveal true natures of people, explored through various characters and sitations. This was a fun mystery to read, which I read in the afternoon on the 18th, on A.A. Milne's birthday (born 1882).
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