Grace

I find I don't have much grace for some segments of society these days...that is my shame. I just can't seem to comprehend those who claim to follow Jesus to also be defenders of capitalism.  Our country is more polarized than ever.  The current crisis seems to bring out the worst in people, myself included.  It makes me want to run back to places where I found like minds and hearts.  And further isolate myself.  This is hard, hard time. 
The Grace Year reminds me of our society in many ways.  Before COVID19 there seemed to be a start, something glowing, something beginning, where people who had never had much say before, the marginalized, were rising up and things were moving, and dawn was breaking even among such shameless hate and greed and division and "us" and "them" mentality.  But now I wonder what will happen.  There is even more need for acceptance and affirmation and love and unity, but if I am any indication, I simply want to flee back to safe places.  I simply want to listen to Jesus and those who attempt to follow His words.  I simply want to draw strength from them instead of trying to be Christ to those who seem so sure that it is legitimate to ask "what is worth more, saving lives or saving the economy?" and "what difference does it make if COVID19 breaks out among the incarcerated and the undocumented?" and those who say, "These are the end times all the signs are here!"  And I am sure they don't want to hear from me, either! 
But I digress.  The Grace Year was quite good.  It was disturbing but hopeful. But it is one of those books that I would have read in 2015 and thought, "Things will never be this bad!  This is dystopian fiction!" and now I read it and think, "This is realistic fiction."  and I wonder if in a few months I will look back on it and think, "This is uptopia."  Because things are getting worse.  Fortunately God is still God.  God weeps with us.
God created ALL of us in God's image and we can grow into God's likeness by following Jesus's example.  And we are filled with the Holy Spirit who empowers us to treat ALL of God's in accordance with who they are --- GOD's children. 
Sometimes we forget that Christ is not Jesus's last name. 
Jesus is God come in the flesh.
Christ in the incarnation of God.
The first incarnation of God is creation.  We are called to be Christ in this world.
Now Jesus was different!  I mean, Jesus is God!  But Christ is a bigger thing.  It is complicated.  But it is an old alternative orthodoxy.  One book that really helps to break it all down is The Universal Christ.  I recommend this so highly.
I am scattered today.  I imagine we all are.
Much love,
Ing

3 and 1/2

All Your Twisted Secrets was a full four before the end for me...it just seemed to get a little text book with the Amber's thoughts at the end...but again, just me.  Kept my attention throughout though!  A good one for keeping ones mind off of the current state of the world and a really important message about bullying and social media...just a little too preachy I thought...at the end. 

Bees

A lot of people are afraid of bees.  I get it.  I have been stung by a bee.  I have also been stung by a yellowjacket and a wasp and many, those guys hurt a LOT worse than a bee!  But still, getting stung is not fun.  It is super painful.  At first it doesn't seem SO bad but then whoa...whoa...it hurts more after a few seconds!  A LOT more! 
Anyway, The Queen Bee and Me is a story that shows that people can hurt each other a lot more than a bee or a yellow jacket or a wasp and a hornet.  Well, actually yellowjackets and hornets are wasps (I didn't know this until today!), but you know what I mean!   I think, anyway.  Relationships can be painful.  Especially among middle schoolers.  I really loved this book.  It was so well done, right to the end. 

That was some party...

The Party was a good, I-want-to-keep-reading book.  The characters were real in that they weren't all good or all bad.  I especially liked Jeff. 
I know this book is an adult book, but I also think it could be enjoyed by older teens.  It's a toughie.  It isn't a literary book, but it is a quick read. 

In a Few Days

I changed my goodreads rating of The Upside of Unrequited from 3 stars to 1, but if I could give 1.5, I would have.  Though, maybe not.  I just found so much I didn't enjoy about this book.  First of all, I think it is completely predictable.  And for me to find something predictable is saying a lot because I am generally clueless.  But one could see the end of this one coming from a LONG way off, I think.
Another thing I didn't like was how stereotypical everyone was.  It was just really blah for me to the point that it was irritating.
What I loved, loved, loved about the book (yes, 3 loves) was the fact that it takes place during the time when same sex marriage was declared a constitutional right by the Supreme Court.  That was awesome.  Because that was such a beautiful day and well, writing about that is just going to be awesome!  As a person of faith, it made me even happier that day because so many have used faith (strike that, I mean MAN MADE RELIGION) to outlaw same sex marriage, it was an especially beautiful day for the government to be inline with Jesus!  But even the celebration of such goodness wasn't enough to save this book.  I just couldn't wait for it to be over.  That doesn't mean that others won't like it.  It just wasn't my cup of tea!

In My Humble Opinion

Rita Williams-Garcia is going to go down as one of the finest writers for young people of all time.  Her talent is incredible.  The Gaither Sisters are among the best characters in children's literature.   If, after reading this awesome historical/period fiction series, you need anymore proof of that, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground is sure to make you see that I am right.  I count her right up there with the greats for being able to take a reader back in time, and/or into a character's mind and world, all of that which makes a book a magical trip, you know?  Like Christopher Paul Curtis, like Katherine Paterson, like Gary Paulsen, like Madeleine L'Engle.
I don't know much about the Blues.  I wish I did.  This novel and my recent trip to New Orleans were I heard some great street blues bands, makes me want to know more.  Here is a great website that helped me understand the difference between blues and jazz music!  The novel begins in Washington Square Park where Clayton is playing blues with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd and Papa Byrd's friends in a blues band called the Bluesmen.  A lot of the book takes place in the subway system of NYC.  Just a great, great book.

Love/Hate Relationship

I have a love/hate relationship with Joyce Carol Oates.  She is a great writer.  She really is.  You can see that I have disliked a book or two by her.  Check out High Crime Area.  Her books are disturbing and thought provoking.  Big Mouth and Ugly Girl was a book that I loved.  A great story of rumor gone wrong.  Religion takes a hit here, that is no surprise in an Oates book.  But at least Oates names this religion for what it is, ridiculous right-wing garbage cloaked in a "religious" mask.  So that was good.  A very recommendable read.

Different Kinds of Struggles

Better than Perfect and Zane and the Hurricane and Sarny all had struggles. How can one put a value on struggles?
I know that we can't rank pain.
This book tells the story of "perfect" Juliet Newman who is from a "perfect" family that starts to fall apart.
Her mom ODs, her parents divorce, she is struggling with her "perfect" boyfriend" and her pending acceptance?  into Harvard.
There is no "perfect" life.  Facebook and Instagram and Twitter might make us think that others have perfect lives.
I knew a woman who was always complaining about other people have such perfect lives.
I would ask, many times, "How do you know their lives are perfect?  Their children are perfect?"  She would tell me that she sees it on Facebook.
There really isn't much to say to that.
I would sometimes (though not often because she was not a woman of good temper) that her Facebook page also displayed a perfect life.  That just didn't seem to sink in at all.
Juliet would be seen as a "perfect" girl and this ill-tempered acquaintance of mine would compare her to her own daughter, and wonder why her own child couldn't be more like Juliet, I am sure.  But this book just hits home the lesson that no one is perfect.

Nothing Comes from Nothing

nothing ever could....don't you just love that song, you know, Something Good? it has nothing, however to do with Nothing.
Nothing is about nihilism. Dude it was so weird to read this after The Shack. Really weird!
Anyway, it takes place in a foreign country. Denmark or Sweden, someplace where the names of people and places look like this Kjolkvikljkbjq.
It is the story of a bunch of seventh graders who start off the new school year and find that one of them, a guy, Pierre Anthon, has decided that nothing matters, nothing has meaning and everything is pointless. Because he feels this way he has dropped out of school and hangs out in a tree every day, mocking his class as they go to school. His classmates freak out and they try all kinds of things to change his mind or at least get him to shut up.
Finally they decide to build a big pile of meaning in an abandoned sawmill. They will each give up something that has meaning to them and put them in a big mound. They think that when Pierre Anthon sees the mound he will realize he is wrong and they can all go back to normal.
At first it is okay. The kids start to give up stuff and add it to the pile. Then, they start tell other kids what they should give up...and it gets ugly fast!
I can't say anymore. Just read the book. It is horrible! I mean, great, but horrible!
I read it in one sitting, which I never do. Read it! It is awful!
In a good way.