It’s the season of Lent and our kitchen sink decided to implode. So there’s that. I guess you can only ignore leaky faucets and crumbling baseboards for so long. But I didn’t waste all the time I spent ignoring our leaky sink — I used it to read (and listen to) several really good titles last month. Here’s a little bit about them:
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist and narrated by Ron Butler — I’ve read a lot about the Civil War, and before and after it, but I’ve learned A TON from this book. I highly recommend it! Warning: it’s not for the faint of heart. It uses primary documents to recreate the capitalistic world of the slave-holding South.
A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi — This work of fiction written by a journalist-refugee describes the heart-wrenching, real-world situation endured by Syrian war refugees.
Secret Faith in the Public Square: An Argument for the Concealment of Christian Identity by Jonathan Malesic — A recommendation from my friend Chris, this book presents an intriguing perspective on how Christians should interact in the public sphere.
“The Heretic“ — Rob Bell gets a lot of press for what some believe to be controversial views about Christian faith, hell, and a host of other topics. Now, there’s a documentary about him, and the trailer looks really good.
Theology, Liberation and Genocide: A Theology of the Periphery by Mario I. Aguilar — Read this selection in the “Reclaiming Liberation Theology” series on Hoopla. It examines the question of theology in the face of atrocities like the Rwandan genocide. Love the subtitle.
The Confessions by St. Augustine — Finally decided to tackle this this classic via the audiobook version on Hoopla. Comments I’d heard from others made it sound like this was Augustine’s most accessible work. It pioneered a new genre that’s become really popular. But, well…I can’t say I found it to live up to its billing. My reaction: yawn.
