tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-187113852011-04-21T22:15:24.506-04:00<b>A literary review blog</b><BR><BR>"The primary task in living, for any human being, is to find and do the work for which he or she was created." - Mary McDermott ShidelerMindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.comBlogger731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1165446252089468392006-12-07T23:44:00.000-05:002006-12-07T23:46:08.553-05:00

It is fitting that as I prepare to move from Philadelphia to Birmingham to embark on a full-time writing journey, my blog is moving too. With technical assistance from my multi-talented hubby, I have created a more robust website at www.mindywithrow.com. I’ll be shutting down this blog at the end of the month, so please add the new site to your news/blog reader using this feed: http://

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1165369983647882812006-12-05T20:15:00.000-05:002006-12-05T20:54:00.870-05:00

Thanks, Joel, for the get-well wishes in your last comment. Yes, I seem to have a bug that I just can't kick; yesterday started round 3 of antibiotics and steroids and I'm hopeful that will take care of it. Lots to do in these days of holiday prep and packing for a cross-country move, and frustrating to spend so much time in bed.But finally receiving copies of Courage and Conviction in the mail

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1165196348427771582006-12-03T20:26:00.000-05:002006-12-03T20:52:11.373-05:00

I first encountered Paul Zahl’s Five Women of the English Reformation in 2001, when I reviewed it for Reformation & Revival Journal (now Act 3 Review). I had occasion to peruse the book again a few months ago when Brandon and I were researching our chapter on Katharine Parr for Courage and Conviction, the third book in our church history series. Dr. Zahl’s discussion of KP was our introduction to

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1165002037227156642006-12-01T14:34:00.000-05:002006-12-01T14:42:21.683-05:00

Read: Marley & Me -- read my review hereCurrently Reading: Personal History, A Separate PeaceTo Read: The Serpent & the Crown, The Most of P.G. WodehouseSee my previous post on the Winter Reading Challenge. It's not too late to get started!

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1164998505499241662006-12-01T14:26:00.000-05:002006-12-01T14:30:01.336-05:00

Dakota Fanning (my favorite child actor) stars in a live-action adaptation of Charlotte's Web that hits theatres December 15. Julia Roberts provides the voice for Charlotte. My first reaction was, what a lovely book to film--but then I wondered if seeing it on the big screen will ruin my images and memories of the story. I did like the recent The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and it didn't

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1164073340080562272006-11-20T20:34:00.000-05:002006-11-20T20:42:20.103-05:00

Spotted in the new Books & Culture: an ad for “the first volume in a collection of contemporary fiction that combines the artistry of critically acclaimed writers with a clear Christian worldview.” The ad features a quote by C. S. Lewis: “What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects with their Christianity latent”; in other words,

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1163816852559761112006-11-17T21:40:00.000-05:002006-11-17T21:48:51.543-05:00

Animal lovers, you've probably read this one already. The term doesn't exactly describe me, so I wouldn't have read this anytime soon if Diana hadn't left her copy on my desk with a book idea it had inspired (honestly, between Brandon and Diana, I won't need to come up with an original writing project for the next 10 years--not that I'm complaining).Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1163718665489734622006-11-16T18:08:00.000-05:002006-11-16T18:11:05.520-05:00

National Book Foundation: The 2006 winners have been announced. If you've read any of them, leave your recommendations here...

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1163526513279497722006-11-14T21:27:00.000-05:002006-11-14T21:35:00.413-05:00

I've decided to join the From the Stacks Winter Reading Challenge over at Overdue Books. The idea is to read, between Nov. 1 and Jan. 30, five books already on your bookcase that you've "been meaning to read." Initially I thought it wiser to resist, since I'll be moving cross-country during that period and have less reading time than usual--but then I realized that several of the books

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1163524792131978232006-11-14T21:22:00.000-05:002006-11-14T21:30:58.393-05:00

For fun, I decided to take the literary personality quiz I found on Bookgirl's blog. Turns out I don't know HOW to have fun, as I scored as "a college textbook"...

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1163376936997222222006-11-12T19:43:00.000-05:002006-11-12T19:51:36.150-05:00

In 1630, Anne Bradstreet and her husband Simon sailed from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Aboard the Arbella, she witnessed fellow passenger John Winthrop’s famous “city upon on a hill” address, a context that would to a large extent define Anne’s life. She raised eight children in the New World, and in between feeding, disciplining, and educating them, penned dozens of poems that

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1163167221625274212006-11-10T08:44:00.000-05:002006-11-10T09:07:20.153-05:00

Book Club B members--and anyone else who was as captivated as we--Seasonal Soundings has posted about the history of that gorgeous painting used for the cover of The Short Day Dying. Remember our disappointment in book club that the artist and title are not identified in the book? Turns out it's called "The Angelus" by Jean Francois Millet. That image and the possible stories it encompassed is

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1162840827402014412006-11-06T14:10:00.000-05:002006-11-06T14:20:51.116-05:00

Stop by The Scroll at Christians for Biblical Equality for my most recent post there, this time a few questions about what it means for human beings to bear the image of God. Some of the books I've reviewed here in the last few months, including The Memory Keeper's Daughter and Where is the Mango Princess?, have prompted me to reflect a bit more deeply about this issue. Comments at The Scroll

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1162761460705542952006-11-05T16:51:00.000-05:002006-11-05T16:58:18.463-05:00

A warm welcome to all the homeschoolers new to this blog. I was homeschooled through high school with my 4 siblings, so you will surely find a kindred spirit in my mother!Speaking of this blog, tomorrow marks its (her?) 1st birthday. One year of disciplining myself to read, process, and discuss outside the borders of book club. The experiment has become a lifestyle. Thanks for all the comments!

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1162075341564983112006-10-31T19:35:00.000-05:002006-10-31T19:42:29.253-05:00

When I heard that she was born in Recife, Brazil, but now lives in Madison, Wisconsin, my curiousity was piqued in Luana Monteiro. So I ordered her recent short story collection Little Star of Bella Lua: Stories from Brazil. It is bizarre, but not disappointing.These seven distinct stories, with a couple characters that briefly reappear in each other's narratives, are exotic; sometimes harsh,

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1162070141469626382006-10-28T17:14:00.000-04:002006-10-28T17:24:07.226-04:00

Pardon the delay in posting. I’ve been happily distracted by a visit from my baby sister and her hubby, as well as a great weekend in DC—our annual October Smithsonian excursion—with Mike and Rachel (both Brandon and Rachel have posted on the trip).But now, back to the books! Last week Book Club B discussed C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces. This volume has been on my reading list since college (

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1160600283734518542006-10-11T16:52:00.000-04:002006-10-11T16:58:40.946-04:00

The National Book Award finalists were announced today. See any (new) favorites?FictionMark Z. Danielewski, Only Revolutions (Pantheon)Ken Kalfus, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country (Ecco/HarperCollins)Richard Powers, The Echo Maker (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)Dana Spiotta, Eat the Document (Scribner/Simon & Schuster)Jess Walter, The Zero (Judith Regan Books/HarperCollins)Non-FictionTaylor Branch,

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1159488958744363602006-10-03T23:20:00.000-04:002006-10-03T11:26:52.920-04:00

In my previous post, I promised a second installment on The Short Day Dying. The spiritual themes are too deep to unpack in a single essay or discussion, but I offer here a few questions to scratch the surface. Please comment on any or all, and for the sake of easier discussion, refer to the question number(s) in your response. Feel free to interact on other issues as well.1) How does the style

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1159487823479960392006-09-28T19:51:00.000-04:002006-09-28T20:11:53.763-04:00

Sometimes I like a book just because I like it. I like a previous book by the author; I like the cover art; ok—maybe I like the person who recommended the book. (I guess we’re all permissive in some ways.) But I think I am usually a critical reader, evaluating a book on its merits or lack thereof.Why the preamble? Because I am conscious that I am going to use some uncharacteristic superlatives in

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1159048231000045312006-09-23T18:01:00.000-04:002006-09-23T18:07:26.140-04:00

If you're not familiar with the DK Eyewitness Books, check them out in the children's section of your local bookstore. These large hardcover reference volumes on dozens of topics are filled with full-color photos and great research. Brandon and I are building a collection of these for the nieces and nephews, to be bestowed once the babies are old enough not to destroy them! Tree is our latest

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1159048953141987182006-09-23T17:53:00.000-04:002006-09-23T18:06:34.883-04:00

Brandon has posted a preview (including the front cover) of the 3rd volume in our children's church history series. UK readers can buy it in November; in the US, we'll have to wait until January.Our thoughts are turning now to volume 4, on the period of the First and Second Great Awakenings. Space is limited!--but which historical figures do you think should make the cut? (If you know Brandon,

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1157853213747654342006-09-17T19:29:00.000-04:002006-09-17T19:35:42.876-04:00

During an unexpected late season snowstorm in 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky, Dr. David Henry makes a choice he will regret for the rest of his life. His pregnant wife goes into labor, but the route to the hospital is impassable. With the help of nurse Caroline Gill in his quiet clinic, he delivers his son Paul—and then, unexpectedly, Paul’s twin sister Phoebe, in whom David immediately recognizes

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1158535097566443372006-09-16T17:01:00.000-04:002006-09-17T19:21:56.683-04:00

The shortlist for the 2006 Man Booker Prize for fiction was announced this week. The six titles up for grand prize are:Desai, Kiran: The Inheritance of LossGrenville, Kate: The Secret RiverHyland, M.J.: Carry Me DownMatar, Hisham: In the Country of MenSt Aubyn, Edward: Mother’s MilkWaters, Sarah: The Night WatchI haven't read any of them yet. Have you?

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1157833251460887892006-09-09T16:18:00.000-04:002006-09-09T23:09:06.716-04:00

Becky of Book Club B apologized for recommending the Calvino book, but after her intelligent leading of our discussion we all agreed it was a creative and thought-provoking addition to our book list.If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, written in Italian in 1979, is ten novels in one. The protagonist of these ten novels (and the only apparent thing they have in common) is the

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1156026317329031932006-09-02T21:15:00.000-04:002006-09-02T21:21:50.450-04:00

Won’t Let You Go Unless You Bless Me by Andrée Seu arrived in my mailbox a number of weeks ago, a special delivery from my dad. I think it’s safe to say that Andrée ranks up there with Charles Spurgeon and Calvin Miller in Dad’s list of authors-who-most-tickle-his-fancy. We were introduced to her work via World magazine, for which she is a senior writer, but my current relationship to her is as a

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1157245848009639142006-09-02T20:59:00.000-04:002006-09-02T21:10:48.093-04:00

CNN.com reports that Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz, the only writer in Arabic to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, died on Wednesday. I had never heard of him until now, though I have long had an interest in stories set in Cairo. Would someone who has read his work leave a comment?

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1156811067541449402006-08-28T20:15:00.000-04:002006-08-28T21:47:31.250-04:00

Good opening lines are an art unto themselves. A few have become more famous than the story they introduce (and a perceptive article in The Guardian takes issue with the opening assertions of Anna Karenina, Moby-Dick, and Pride and Prejudice). Here are a few I like, both for the "hook" quality and for the way they encapsulate the story to follow:“My name is Asher Lev, the Asher Lev whom you have

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1156027454810215162006-08-23T15:01:00.000-04:002006-08-24T16:05:38.920-04:00

As I mentioned the Newbery Medal a few posts ago, thought you might be interested in a list of all the past winners since 1922, when the prize was inaugurated by the American Library Association. Click here for a complete list; how many have you read? The ALA site also lists Caldecott and other medal winners and runners-up.

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1155357123548118462006-08-18T17:00:00.000-04:002006-08-18T17:08:17.520-04:00

On our trip to Ohio two weeks ago, Brandon and I listened to our first audio book: The Virgin Blue, a novel by Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring (which I have not read, nor seen the movie). Our well-read friend Rachel had recommended the title earlier this summer, so I was happy to find it in the audio section at the library (especially since it was the only possible option out

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1155355919137030312006-08-12T00:08:00.000-04:002006-08-12T00:22:01.630-04:00

Having grown up on an apple orchard, I can say from experience that mice are not at all adorable. They carry diseases. They chew through insulation and cereal boxes. They leave droppings in the electric frying pan that you dig out of the back of the cupboard only once every few months.But those are field mice, not castle mice. Apparently castle mice wear finishing powder, nibble delicately on

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1152064029349670722006-08-01T10:57:00.000-04:002006-08-01T11:03:59.036-04:00

Thanks to all my faithful readers who keep checking in despite my neglect! Courage and Conviction: Chronicles of the Reformation Church has now been delivered to the publisher and I can finally do some purely fun reading. So while I am chillin' in OH with family this week, I am toting around the following:The Tale of Desperaux, Kate DiCamillo (2004 Newberry Medal winner)If on a Winter's Night a

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1150673942740705752006-07-04T21:35:00.000-04:002006-07-04T21:34:20.760-04:00

Fourth of July weekend is a great time to ask for your list of good beach reads—books that don’t require journaling but are still engaging to the decompressing mind. I’ll start by suggesting Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series, a favorite. There are 17 volumes in paperback now, from Crocodile on the Sandback to The Serpent on the Crown (which is on my summer catch-up list for after I finish

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1150673672707851172006-06-25T20:12:00.000-04:002006-06-25T20:16:34.820-04:00

Random questions from my overheated brain (yes, still working night and day on volume 3). Identify one or more of the following, and see what literary quirks you share with other readers of this blog! I might even get around to answering some of these myself one of these days...1) Favorite book by an author with the first name of John2) Periodical you read every issue of3) Favorite work by

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1150667633392887172006-06-18T17:52:00.000-04:002006-06-18T17:58:21.016-04:00

Last week, Book Club B discussed Where is the Mango Princess? A Journey Back from Brain Injury by Cathy Crimmins. This is the memoir of a Philadelphia woman whose husband is run over by a speedboat on vacation in Canada. Surviving a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), he slowly regains motor skills and memories—even returning part-time to his career as a trust attorney—but with an altered

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1150670195877111162006-06-18T17:24:00.000-04:002006-06-18T18:37:02.956-04:00

Brandon, my co-author and very significant other, has created a blog for our History Lives series. Read more about our vision for the project, get progress updates on future volumes, find out where you can buy copies, and post your reviews or comments here.

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1149475161378877622006-06-04T22:33:00.000-04:002006-06-04T22:41:08.740-04:00

Silence is golden—except in the case of blogs. I have been silent here as of late because I am hard at work on volume 3 of our History Lives series, due to the publisher sooner than I want to admit. I am eyeball-deep in word crafting and getting sick of my own voice, but rather than abandon blogging temporarily, I thought I would stick to asking questions for my next few posts and let you do more

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1147894180459666542006-05-17T15:20:00.000-04:002006-05-17T15:30:24.056-04:00

CNN -- "Stanley Kunitz, a former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner whose expressive verse, social commitment and generosity to young writers spanned three-quarters of a century, has died. He was 100."A more detailed biography and several of his poems are available at poets.org.

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1147296689652100172006-05-10T16:38:00.000-04:002006-05-10T20:57:39.656-04:00

For those of you who wanted to read my recent review in Modern Reformation but don't subscribe (they don't make reviews available online), I got permission to post it here:The Year of Magical Thinkingby Joan DidionAlfred A. Knopf, 2005227 pages (hardback), $23.95What does a writer do after her husband of forty years collapses of a massive coronary event while she is mixing the salad at the dinner

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1146531155108697472006-05-01T21:17:00.000-04:002006-05-01T21:24:43.733-04:00

Since everyone else is talking about Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, I may as well too. I can justify it since Book Club B selected the book for discussion last Friday night.Our consensus? It’s fast-paced, lots of action, will probably make an exciting movie (in fact, I predict the movie will be a lot more interesting than the book). But as literature? We found the characters stock, static, and not

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1146494916920409142006-05-01T10:31:00.000-04:002006-05-01T10:50:02.353-04:00

For those of you interested in my extra-curricular activities, I have a new post up at The Scroll. Since it was a gorgeous weekend and I managed to get in a picnic with my beloved and still get a chapter written for book 3, I was feeling positive about the state of the world in general. Thus, this post is my attempt to bring balance to the force--at least for now, until I notice my half-empty

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1145993623509651892006-04-25T15:23:00.000-04:002006-04-25T15:37:33.736-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days! Busy working on volume 3 of our series. But I did promise you this review, so here are some brief comments. I'm hoping a few of you have read it too and will chime in...The protagonist of Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven is Eddie, the maintenance man at a boardwalk amusement park. On his 83th birthday, Eddie is killed in an accident trying to

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1144459191644858382006-04-07T21:17:00.000-04:002006-04-07T21:20:32.733-04:00

I’m not saying they’re the five best novels ever written (I’ll constantly be revising that list), but the five books listed under “Some All-Time Favorites” in the right-hand column do rank up there as some of the most interesting and formative stories I’ve read.What five books make it to your all-time favorite fiction list? I’m looking for recommendations.

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1144189618578737372006-04-04T18:04:00.000-04:002006-04-04T18:30:16.566-04:00

Literature, and writing about it, has been a passion since I learned to read. A more recent development is my desire to publicly articulate my convictions on gender equality. So a new "hat" for me to juggle is that of contributor to The Scroll, the new blog of Christians for Biblical Equality. (Brandon is posting there, too, so you can keep track of both of the Withrows with one URL!) I encourage

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1144023682695448212006-04-02T20:20:00.000-04:002006-04-02T20:27:01.883-04:00

“This is the great private problem of man; death as the loss of self. But what is the self? It is the sum of everything we remember. Thus what terrifies us about death is not the loss of the future but the loss of the past. Forgetting is a form of death ever present within life.” – Milan KunderaLouise Dean’s Becoming Strangers is an insightful novel about long marriages and deep loss. Dorothy and

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1141567478577685922006-03-25T08:03:00.000-05:002006-03-25T21:11:11.846-05:00

I hope you have had the opportunity to read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, the National Book Award-winning memoir of the first year after her husband's death. Read my review in the March/April issue of Modern Reformation (check it out at the library since it's not available online).

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1142721399016904972006-03-18T17:32:00.000-05:002006-03-18T17:42:22.700-05:00

After 12 years of being just an entry on my master “to read” list, I finally read Elie Wiesel’s Night in preparation for the discussion last night at Book Club B (“B” because it’s the second one I’m involved in, not “B” as in quality of the discussion!).How does one respond to another person’s encounter with pure evil and endurance of the most extremes of human suffering?As I begin to process

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1141675400596351122006-03-10T16:52:00.000-05:002006-03-10T16:55:31.206-05:00

Based on various lists I’ve seen on the web, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd has been one of the top 10 choices of book clubs for the last several years. Though I don’t rank it among my favorites, I can see why a lot of groups have chosen to talk about it. Two discussion points stand out to me: the apiary imagery and the theme of identity.The book is saturated with honey bee imagery.

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1141441982975938232006-03-03T21:51:00.000-05:002006-03-05T08:50:10.880-05:00

Memories of My Melancholy Whores is, as the title declares, a story of loneliness and degradation, a “narration of the miseries of my misguided life,” the protagonist declares. We never learn his name, but we do learn that he is a 90-year-old Colombian newspaper columnist. He’s spent all of his days in his decaying house with his books and music, and all of his nights in poorly-ventilated

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1141096570572279102006-02-27T22:08:00.000-05:002006-02-27T22:18:08.400-05:00

I've posted an article as guest blogger at Brandon's blog: "Love for all the wrong reasons: Focus on the Family frightens young women into marriage."

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1140801659350179322006-02-24T12:07:00.000-05:002006-02-24T12:21:22.086-05:00

A formal thank you to Rachel "Pinnochio" Vendsel for her gracious, articulate endorsement of our children's series. Book lovers make the best friends!

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1140577843960113972006-02-21T22:07:00.000-05:002006-02-21T22:18:47.260-05:00

With all the really important things we can do with our time, why spend it reading? In an article at byFaithOnline, Dr. Kathleen Nielson says our anti-reading culture has “ignored the power of our God-given imaginations, one crucial route through which God means to reach us and teach us and grow us into the image of our Creator.”She claims that the value of literature--defined as “the artful

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1140306009612221112006-02-18T18:37:00.000-05:002006-02-18T18:41:29.426-05:00

Two more authors speaking in the Philadelphia area soon:Carolyn Custis James, author of When Life and Beliefs Collide and Lost Women of the Bible, is doing a reading and book signing at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside on March 25. Free. Register online at http://www.wts.edu/news/conferences/james/onlinereg.html.Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize winner and author of many books including Night,

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1140137654214740452006-02-16T19:34:00.000-05:002006-02-16T20:00:06.156-05:00

Ever wondered why drug dealers still live with their mothers? Or what teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Neither have I, which is one of the points of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Steven D. Levitt, Harvard economist, and Stephen J. Dubner, New York Times writer, employ a “new way of looking” at the “riddles of everyday life,” exploring seeming

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1139455507774238162006-02-08T22:04:00.000-05:002006-02-08T22:42:09.626-05:00

Last night, Brandon and I went to a lecture at Villanova University by Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner (which, since I read it last June, has ranked up there with Too Late the Phalarope and My Name is Asher Lev as one of the most moving novels I’ve read). I estimated at least 1500 people in the audience. The lecture was part of Villanova’s One Book: Read It, Share It program, a

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1139341231187776072006-02-07T14:35:00.000-05:002006-02-07T15:29:43.006-05:00

In 1794, General “Mad” Anthony Wayne built a fort on the banks of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers, declaring, “I defy the Indians, the English, and all the devils in hell to take it!” One hundred sixty years later, his spirit lives on in the town of Defiance, Ohio, in the resourceful wife of an alcoholic and mother of 10, who pays for her kids’ glasses and school books with contest winnings.Terry

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1138815293338145002006-02-01T12:30:00.000-05:002006-02-08T22:49:10.306-05:00

For those of you in the greater Philadelphia area, don’t miss the chance to hear Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, at Villanova University on February 7. The lecture, along with a book signing in the morning, is part of Villanova’s One Book program. If you’ve observed my favorites list in the right-hand column, you know I highly recommend this novel! I hear his second novel is scheduled

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1138460760686569062006-01-28T10:00:00.000-05:002006-01-28T10:33:33.213-05:00

Tomorrow’s New York Times Sunday Book Review includes Garrison Keillor’s hysterical and devastating review of American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville by French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy. The book released on Tuesday by Random House.Here's an excerpt of Keillor's first paragraph:Any American with a big urge to write a book explaining France to the French should

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1138420007057111562006-01-27T22:38:00.000-05:002006-01-27T22:49:10.926-05:00

I’ve been tagged by fellow blogger Rachel to post my “four things” lists. Since a lot of you have been lurking for a few months and haven’t introduced yourselves yet, I post the following to investigate what else we have in common besides great books!Four jobs I’ve had:apple picker/polisher and cider press operator (yes, it was at my parents’ orchard, but since I got paid for it, it counts)

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1137880774466280622006-01-21T16:49:00.000-05:002006-01-23T09:49:46.450-05:00

Just a quick note to announce that books 1 and 2 of the children’s history series Brandon and I are writing have finally released in the U.S. (they were published in Scotland, and released in the U.K. in November). You’ll find links to the right, below my profile. So far, best price and shipping is at Westminster Bookstore.Book 3 is in progress, with an anticipated release in spring 2007; books 4

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1137554304540915162006-01-17T22:11:00.000-05:002006-01-17T22:49:23.760-05:00

Since I share a birthday with Martin Luther King Jr., I always get a 3-day birthday weekend. Brandon and I usually spend the majority of the time trying to slow down. So for 3 days we slept, mixed cocktails, watched the TV series Firefly on DVD (why do our favorite shows always get cancelled?), and read.* * *On Saturday I finished Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street. McCall Smith is

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1137191500955743612006-01-13T17:29:00.000-05:002006-01-13T17:32:16.060-05:00

This week I found an interesting article in Christian History & Biography’s online archive (somehow I missed it in the summer issue). “Dorothy Sayers: ‘The Dogma is the Drama’” is an interview with Dr. Barbara Reynolds, president of the Dorothy L. Sayers Society and a friend and collaborator of Sayers. She talks about her friendship with Dorothy, the themes of Dorothy’s works, and how Dorothy

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1136487050646476222006-01-05T13:41:00.000-05:002006-01-05T13:52:35.260-05:00

At the beginning of each year, I give my trusty Daytimer organizer a thorough cleaning. As I was doing this a few days ago, I came across a clipping I originally found about 8 years ago when I was first beginning my editorial career. It’s not traditional poetry, but it did speak to me!God of Grammarby Geoff PopeYou are the Suffixand the Prefix.You are my veryImmediate Intensifier.No doubt, you

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1135692936791742382005-12-27T09:10:00.000-05:002005-12-27T09:22:27.726-05:00

As announced a number of weeks ago, my post today is intended to initiate a discussion of Alan Paton’s novel Too Late the Phalarope. I hope you made time to read it and now understand why it's on my favorites list!Biographical details about the author can be found on a number of websites, including here and here.By way of introducing this discussion, I suggest that the major themes of the novel

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1135227892326338882005-12-21T23:56:00.000-05:002005-12-22T00:18:49.026-05:00

I’ve been poking around the internet tonight looking for the official websites of some of my favorite novelists. You’ll have fun with these: • P.D. James (see her essay “Why Detection?”)• Dorothy L. Sayers (We share a middle name, not just the initial! Note that Eerdmans has just released a new edition of her highly-recommended classic “Are Women Human?”)• Khaled Hosseini (includes his bio, but

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1134439660461760262005-12-12T21:02:00.000-05:002005-12-12T21:31:26.186-05:00

Several writing and editing projects are currently competing for my time, but lest I allow this blog to atrophy, here are a few quick comments:First, a reminder of my upcoming online discussion on Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton. On December 27, I’ll post a few questions and hopefully spur you to dialogue. If a few of you participate, I might do it again—so if you’re interested in starting

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1133545832698990742005-12-02T12:31:00.000-05:002005-12-02T12:50:32.706-05:00

This week Brandon and I received copies of volumes 1 and 2 in our youth church history series, History Lives. The books released in the UK (where they were published) two weeks ago, and are scheduled for release in the US in January. Cover images and descriptions are available on Brandon's blog if you're interested in the details. It is our desire that this series provide both an engaging and

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1133213091841185852005-11-28T16:41:00.000-05:002005-11-28T16:41:06.393-05:00

Over the Thanksgiving holiday (between shopping trips with my sister), I finished two books that—though extremely different in terms of worldview, tone, and plot—feature the love, loyalty, and competition of sisters.My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult is the current selection of my church book club. It’s the story of a family surviving from one cancer relapse to the next. The author has done

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1133058828906159322005-11-26T21:26:00.000-05:002005-11-26T21:33:48.916-05:00

A couple of you have mentioned that you haven’t read all of the books on my list of “some all-time favorites” (in the right-hand column), so I thought it might be fun to initiate an online discussion of one of them. For anyone who’s interested in participating, here’s your heads-up: on Tuesday, December 27, I’m going to post a few questions to start a comment thread on Too Late the Phalarope by

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1132845937585715512005-11-24T10:21:00.000-05:002005-11-24T10:29:20.756-05:00

Last month, Brandon and I learned that Yonas, the boy in Ethiopia we had been sponsoring for the last 9 years through Compassion International, had left the program. He is 16, needs to work to help provide for his family, and hasn’t done well in school, so he opted out of the program against the advice of his local support advocates. The news was harder to take that we anticipated. After praying

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1132542353695888772005-11-20T21:51:00.000-05:002005-11-20T22:13:25.816-05:00

On Thursday night I had the privilege of attending “Reading Narnia with C.S. Lewis” at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. (I went with my good friend Diana, who treated me to a fabulous three-course dinner at Devon Seafood Grill on Rittenhouse Square before the event.)Dr. Leland Ryken, professor of English at Wheaton College, gave a short lecture and discussed his new book A Reader’s

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1131925044165406002005-11-13T18:48:00.000-05:002005-11-13T18:48:44.520-05:00

My friends are used to hearing me gripe about my PFSD (Post-Fundamentalist Stress Disorder). Apparently the symptoms come in cycles. This summer it was pretty bad, but it’s beginning to let up again, partly due to a tender little book called Born Again and Again: Surprising Gifts of a Fundamentalist Childhood by Jon M. Sweeney (Paraclete Press, 2005). (A good review by Betty Smartt Carver is

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1131397736632235342005-11-07T16:00:00.000-05:002005-11-13T18:56:34.560-05:00

I’m always on the lookout for a good read. Recently my pastor’s wife recommended Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harcourt, 2001). Her assessment was accurate: unique, well-written, yet disappointing. It’s a riveting adventure of human resilience in the face of extreme suffering, of faith in our era of religious pluralism.Pi Patel, the 16-year-old son of an Indian zoologist, is shipwrecked in the

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18711385.post-1131322377567670272005-11-06T19:12:00.000-05:002005-11-06T23:16:53.293-05:00

Like so many others, I have finally succumbed to the siren call of the blog. Not long ago, I dreamed that every email I wrote arrived in the recipient's inbox blank--perhaps this is the answer to my apparent fear of not having a voice! So I intend to use this space to briefly review books and comment on issues of interest to me. Book recommendations are welcome. Thanks for reading!

Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850425859465517009noreply@blogger.com4