Books

Reflections on the role of reading in culture, faith, and family

Summer Reading--What's On Your List?

Her.meneutics, the Christianity Today women's blog, has posted a list of books that contributers will be reading this summer (myself included). It's a fabulous list. Click here to read it and check back in on Friday for some of my initial thoughts on my summer reading book, The Sabbath World.

What's ...

Why This Cover? Questions about a Good and Perfect Gift Part Two

A year ago, my agent suggested I spend some time in bookstores looking at covers. "Jot down what you like, and, as much as you're able, why you like it."

It was much harder than I expected. I figured out that I like matte finishes instead of glossy ones. I like lower case letters. I like fonts that don't ...

Questions About A Good and Perfect Gift Part 1

Yesterday two packages arrived. The first was a small box with five "Advanced Reading Copies" of my upcoming book, A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations and a Little Girl Named Penny. The second were the "galleys" for that book, which is to say the final final draft. I have seven days to comb ...

What Blogs Are You Reading?

As you may have noticed, the title of this blog is Thin Places, and the subtitle reads, "Amy Julia Becker on faith, family, and disability." You could use the Venn diagram to place most of my posts in at least one of those categories– every week I try to make sure that at least one post covers a topic ...

Hints of Providence: An Interview with Carlos Eire

Years ago I read Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy, by Carlos Eire. It was written in the wake of the Elian Gonzalez affair, and Professor Eire (he teaches at Yale) wrote his memoir of growing up in Cuba before Castro took over. Last fall I heard Prof. Eire speak about his new book, ...

Have you read any hope-filled books lately?

What books are you reading lately? Are they hopeful and truthful at the same time?

I ask because a friend who reads this blog wrote me last week with the following comments:

"I've been thinking lately about fiction and Christian writers. With my recent book choices I've read some really well-written, ...

Half the Church Might Need Another Quarter... (Plus, Book Giveaway...)

Update (posted April 6): Caryn and Casey have won copies of Half the Church. Thanks to all who participated!

Let's begin with a question: what has been your experience of women in the church? Comment below and enter to receive a free copy of Half the Church.

Carolyn Custis James' Half the Church combines ...

What I'm Reading and Watching: Cutting for Stone and The Painted Veil

We don't get out much, so perhaps it's no surprise that neither Peter nor I had heard of The Painted Veil. We rented it based upon the trailer, and we weren't disappointed. It's a beautiful film. It's a pretty simple story: husband, who is also a doctor (played by Ed Norton) and wife, who is eager to ...

What I'm Reading: The Case Against Perfection

Michael Sandel's The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in an the Age of Genetic Engineering is thoughtful, well-written, and, despite Sandel's academic credentials, accessible to any reader. It is also very short (128 very small pages), and thus it is a great place to start if you are interested in learning ...

What I'm Reading: Flannery O'Connor

I turned in my thesis last Friday night. Well, kind of. I finished my thesis last Friday night and submitted it by email only to discover on Monday that I had submitted a draft from twelve hours earlier. A draft complete with notes like "INSERT QUOTE HERE," no title page, no footnotes. Thankfully, my ...

Penelope Ayers Updates and Reviews

Penelope Ayers is now available on Kindle. Unfortunately, the Kindle edition is not in the same place as the paperback. Go figure (and if any of you are tech savvy and know how to fix this discrepancy, please comment!).

And to read a new review, and get introduced to an interesting blog (Holy Vernacular!) ...

What I'm Reading: Take This Bread

I read a lot. Every night before bed. In the bathroom while I'm brushing my teeth or blow drying my hair. If I happen to catch a meal alone. In addition to an array of magazines, I usually have at least two books going. Currently, my bedside table includes: Anagrams by Lorrie Moore, an advance copy ...

Reflections on Penelope Ayers

My old friend Stefan Lanfer has a new review and reflection on Penelope Ayers. On his blog, dadtoday, he discusses parents and children, dying and new life in a new post called Storytime.

An excerpt:

Reading it, I was struck that this particular phase of life is not so unlike that of becoming a parent ...

Book Reading at Yale and an Article worth Reading

No deep thoughts to record this morning, but two points of possible interest:

One, for anyone in the greater New Haven area, I will be doing a book reading from Penelope Ayers at Yale tomorrow at 4:00 pm at the Dwight Hall Library. Click here for directions. To read excerpts or get more information about ...

Thanks to Andy Crouch

Happy New Year!

My celebrations started early when I read that Andy Crouch (author of Culture Makers, a book I highly recommend), had reviewed my book, Penelope Ayers, as one of his favorites of the year. Click here to read the review (scroll down once you get to the page), and I encourage you to poke ...

Penelope Ayers

Hi all,

I just noticed that my book, Penelope Ayers, is on sale on amazon.com at the moment for $11.69 (how on earth they set these prices, I have no idea). Click here if you're interested.

I just returned from a week of book-related events in the Boston area, so the story is on my mind again, after ...

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