2023 Reading

Time to close out my reading for 2023! I surpassed my goal of 36 with 54 (several of them shorter). Next year, I should include all the other books I read with my son. :-)

A Breakdown:
5 Novels (?)-- My fav was “Demon Copperhead” and runner-up was “The Sympathizer”. “Demon Copperhead” was also my fav overall for the year!

6  (Semi-)Related to Science-- “Breathless”, “How the World Really Works”, and “Range” especially resonated with me. “Your Inner Fish” was also pretty good.

 
6 (Auto)Biographies or Historical Portraits (a gripping one often reads like a good novel!)-- “And There Was Light” (Lincoln), “G-Man” (J. Edgar Hoover) and “PTL” (Jim Bakker) all stood out.

 
30+ Devotional, Faith-, and Ministry-Related Titles (Besides the Bible)-- The especially thoughtful “Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary”, “Jesus and the Eyewitnesses”, and “Rediscovering Jonah” especially spoke to me.

 
Though I haven’t had to commute for a while, I’m thankful I was able to multi-task by listening to 17 audiobooks either driving or working out at the gym.

 
Friends who enjoy reading: What titles did you most relish this past year?

Ruminating and Delighting Upon God's Word

Lately I’ve been appreciating the Jewish artist Marc Chagall’s 1933 work SOLITUDE, which I first stumbled across a month or so ago in a book I've been reading. In the painting, a man wearing a prayer shawl is resting on his hand meditating. He holds a Torah scroll close to his heart in the other hand. Even though the man’s back is set against the city, he's not ignoring his surroundings. Rather, he’s meditating deeply about what God's Torah says about eternal realities. And what of the goat chewing its cud -- while playing a violin?!!! In Chagall’s paintings goats often depict how the Jews were seen as Nazi scapegoats. Even more signficantly, a goat chewing on its cud illustrates the delight an observant Jew experiences ruminating on God’s Word. And what of the violin? Remember the 1971 musical “Fiddler on the Roof”? (By the way, the actor who played Tevye died in May of this year) FIDDLER was inspired by a delightful theme from several of Chagall’s paintings, one of which carried the same name. Instead of being distracted by arguing factions regarding current events, may God's people find their joy and delight by ruminating continually on God’s Word.

2020 Reading

I can't believe I forgot to post about 2019 (except for on facebook)! Oh well, I enjoyed another wonderful year of reading and listening to audiobooks. Except for any I didn't record, it looks like my total for the year is 53. Some favorites included (but were by no means restricted to): Just Mercy, Mama's Last Hug, Stay Salt, Confronting Christianity, Godric, and any of the Life/Works of classical composers by Jeremy Siepmann. What did you enjoy reading this year of the coronavirus?

Guns in Taiwan

Generally speaking, Taiwan is a safe country with strict gun control regulations. There is no legal private gun ownership. By way of contrast, Taiwanese think America is more dangerous. They are right (the intentional homicide rate is about 0.82 per 100,000 in Taiwan compared to about 5.35  in the USA from the wiki I quickly perused).

But earlier this week I heard a story from a young man which challenges this perspective. He told me that one of his friends carries three guns, two of them loaded, with him in his car at all times. He said he feels very safe whenever he rides with this friend!

When I related this story to my Saturday English class, one of my students topped it. A few years ago, she was caught in traffic directly behind a criminal caught in a standoff with two policemen. First, he pulled out his pistol. Then when the police produced their pistols, he quickly exchanged his for a machine gun, which sent the terrified policemen scurrying for shelter. Finally he put away his machine gun and brandished a hand grenade, beckoning with his hand for the scared policemen to draw near. Apparently no shots were ever fired. Neither was he apprehended at that time. But what a story! Was it just posturing? Who knows.

These gun-related stories remind of a huge story back in 1997 around time I came on island. Chen Chin-hsing , who was from the area where I am now living, had been on the run for months. People all over the island seemed scared out of their wits beyond all credible reason. The South African couple linked here and here later wrote a book about their moving experience and their ability to forgive in Jesus' name.

2018 Reading

Another year, another 39 books. All but 10 were audiobooks. Several were re-reads. I wish I had read a couple more science-related. What did you read this past year?

Book Review of "Under the Sea Wind"

Having little knowledge of the fields of biology or zoology, I appreciated "Under The Sea Wind" like few other books I read the entire year.

Considered one of the first environmentalists, Rachel Carson popularized words such as "ecology", "ecosystem", "food chain", and "biosphere".

As I listened to and read the lyric prose of this her first novel I found myself being drawn in as if to move in harmony with the deep rhythms of creation. The migratory tales of Scomber the mackerel and Anguilla the eel particularly intrigued me. I often found myself wondering how many of the species she described way back in 1941 are now endangered or depleted.

In addition to the author's prose, I found C.M. Hebert's hypnotic voice narration of the audiobook excellent as well. Since the ebook I followed up with had no pictures of the various plant and animal species described in the book, google and wikipedia proved to be invaluable resources to which I frequently turned.

Earlier this year, I enjoyed "Sense of Wonder" by the same author. Next up, I want to read Carson's "The Sea Around Us", or at least watch the documentary it inspired!

Henry Ossawa Turner

The artist I read about today was Henry Ossawa Turner (1859-1937). Pictured here are perhaps his two most famous works: The Banjo Lesson, and The Annunciation. According to Terry Glaspey, in Turner's depiction of Mary  "we are reminded that God communicates to perfectly ordinary human beings in perfectly ordinary circumstances... there is receptivity in her body language, an openness to God's will."

 Turner was raised by a father who was a free black pastoring an AME church in Philadelphia, and a mother who was a former slave rescued by the Underground Railroad. Turner overcame racism to become America's first internationally-acclaimed African-American painter. Unfortunately, in order to accomplish this dream, he first had to leave the USA and move to Paris, where he lived out the rest of his days.

James Tissot

Today I learned a little about the artist James Tissot (1836-1902), who early in his career became famous for his exquisite depictions of French fashion and high society, especially beautiful women dressed in their finery. Click here for a look at 492 of this artist's paintings by either popularity or alphabetical order. 

When Tissot was in his late forties, he set about working on  a new project depicting Parisian women in a variety of settings. These settings included  a Catholic church. One day, while visiting the church, Tissot had a profound experience that was to change the rest of his life. While the priest was conducting mass, Tissot experienced a vision: Christ comforting the poor in the rubble of a fallen building. Doing without sleep for several nights, Tissot set to work painting the scene as it appeared to him. He called it Inward Voices: The Ruins.

From then on, the focus of his artistic endeavors shifted. He traveled to Egypt, Syria and Palestine in 1886, and again in 1890 in order to create a series of paintings resembling as close as possible the world in which Jesus walked. The result was a series of 350 watercolors which took nearly 10 years to complete.

The crowds thronged wherever these works were placed on exhibit. Tissot also published a four volume international bestseller featuring the watercolors (To be fair,  some of Tissot’s friends and peers implied his shift in focus may have been partly related to financial considerations due to changing political winds).

Later in life, Tissot began to paint a series of Old Testament paintings but sadly died before making his way out of the book of Genesis.

Painter Of The Week

The artist I learned about this week is the English Pre-Raphaelite William Holman Hunt. Two of his paintings seem to be in dialogue with each another. The first is The Awakening Conscience (1853), and the second is The Light Of The World (1854). I read about the artist in the book 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know. This wiki is also very informative.

Perfectly Balanced Universe

Another reminder from Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry:

  "Since both mass and energy cause space-time to warp, or curve, omega tells us the shape of the cosmos. If omega is less than one, the actual mass-energy falls below the critical value, and the universe expands forever in every direction for all of time, taking on the shape of a saddle, in which initially parallel lines diverge. If omega equals one, the universe expands forever, but only barely so. In that case the shape is flat, preserving all the geometric rules we learned in high school about parallel lines. If omega exceeds one, parallel lines converge, and the universe curves back on itself, ultimately recollapsing into the fireball whence it came."

What a perfectly balanced universe in which we live!

Graphics: Wikipedia, Northern Arizona University

Our Unique Vantage Point

Earlier this year I listened to Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and I've been slowly re-reading the ebook. One of many fascinating observations Tyson makes regarding our unique position in the universe is as follows:

"Earth’s Moon is about 1/400th the diameter of the Sun, but it is also 1/400th as far from us, making the Sun and the Moon the same size on the sky—a coincidence not shared by any other planet–moon combination in the solar system, allowing for uniquely photogenic total solar eclipses. Earth has also tidally locked the Moon, leaving it with identical periods of rotation on its axis and revolution around Earth. Wherever and whenever this happens, the locked moon shows only one face to its host planet." --Astrophysics for People in a Hurry"

What an amazing universe in which we live!

2017 Reading

Wow... almost a year has passed since my last blog entry! Time again for my year in books review.

As I look back over the list of 48+ books I listened to or read this past year, my first observation is that I read several more novels than I usually do. I loved the humor of The Throwback Special, and the gritty earthiness of Bull Mountain and The North Water. The Atonement wasn’t bad, but The Girl on the Train was awesome! I liked Thomas McGuane’s Crow Fair: Stories so much that he's near the top of my reading list for 2018. However, my favorite novel for the year was by far Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic masterpiece The Brothers Karamazov!

In  the history and biography genre, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President. I can also recommend Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton as well as his Washington: A Life. Jon Meacham’s Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush kept my attention from start to finish, although the author seemed at times a little biased, perhaps due to being a little too close to his subject material. My favorite for the year in the biography genre was by far George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father. Highly recommend this title!

I only read three science-related books this year, but all three were eye-opening: The Gene: An Intimate History, A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals, and Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues. I highly recommend all three.

One area I wanted to learn more about this past year was the issue of justice and the command for us to prioritize it instead of looking the other way. I heartily recommend both Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis, and The Justice Calling: Where Passion Meets Perseverance. Other non-fiction which I found challenging and edifying included Conversations with Walker Percy, and Tim Keller’s Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism.

An important personal goal for me the past year was to re-acquire the Greek and Hebrew I studied years ago in graduate school which I for the most part neglected for 20 years as I moved on to other languages. To accomplish this, I read Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar and its companion Basics of Biblical Greek as well as worked through portions of their accompanying workbooks. I’ve still got a long way to go to get to the next level. But that’s a goal for next year.

The book formats I read this year were as follows:
27 audiobooks (ever thankful to take advantage of commuting time!)
16 eBooks (7 along with same audiobook)
10 physical books

There are always a few books I forget to input, but that’s it for the most part. How about you? Did you read any of these or have other favorites to recommend? Please let me know!

If you're interested in checking out my reviews (or those of others) for any of these books, you can click here.

2016 Reading

Time for my annual summary of books I read this past year! As usual my favorite genre was history. I highly recommend The Kingdom of Ice,  Rebel Yell, The Wright Brothers  and Empire of the Summer Moon (probably in that order). Listening to the former in our cold January weather left a particularly deep impression!

I would also highly recommend Stuff Matters as an excellent and easily navigable read related to materials science. The World Without Us is a thought-provoking semi-scientific look at what the future could have been like.

I typically find Bill Bryson's books insightful, relaxing, and downright hilarious in places as I let my mind travel through time or around the world. This year was no exception. In addition to the books I recorded as having read, I listened to the audio version of Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, which I had already read a decade or so ago. Just as good the second time around!

The Things of Earth is an excellent read helping us to orient our lives to appreciate all God has created and freely given us to enjoy. I look forward to reading future books by this author!

How about you? Did you read any of these or have other favorites to recommend? Please leave a comment below!

As for the format of books I read this year:

• 20 were audiobooks (most were free loans from the Maryland Digital Public Library; I'm so thankful for the availability of this service overseas!)
• 6 ebooks (all but one of which were also library loans)
• 5 hardbacks (2 of which were from the library)
• 8 paperbacks

According to www.goodreads.com, I am currently reading 16 other books but these will all have to wait for next year!