Every so often, I get asked what I liked to read, so occasionally I list the books I’m currently reading or have recently read.
I just finished Zealous Love: A Practical Guide to Social Justice
, a book I bought from half.com on the recommendation of a friend (Hi Shana!). The book covers issues like AIDS, human trafficking, hunger, lack of clean water, and the environment, and I thought it was very worthwhile read.
Far, far too often, conservative Christians are lacking in passion for these types of issues (“not my problem” is the thought), but this book provides both inspiration for people who love God and practical ideas about how we might be able to help people who are suffering.
I especially liked the chapter about the environment because it talked about how taking care of the environment is a way of loving other people.
“Wherever you stand on the issue of climate change, to get mired in debate is to miss the larger opportunity to care about what God cares about-the creation he called “very good” and the immeasurably valuable humans who depend on his creation for their very lives.”
Yes.
And another quote:
“We must admit that our love for God is deficient when we degrade his creation and our love for our neighbors-both those who live near us and those who live across the ocean-is deficient when we hinder their ability to survive, whether by our negative action or our neutral inaction.”
Yes, yes.
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I’m also reading Earn It, Learn It
, a book sent to me for review purposes.
Earn it, Learn it is about the Earn My Keep allowance system, in which you help your child practice a bunch of difference careers and then pay them for their efforts. The first part of the book explains the system and the second part is filled with different careers you can have your child try. Each career section has a lot of different ideas that are appropriate for varying age levels (and also varying amounts of parental time!).
I think having children do work to earn their allowance is a great idea, and I also think that parents should help their children figure out what jobs they like doing so that they can help them figure out a career path that uses their particular gifts and abilities. Mr. FG and I already have some ideas about what direction our kids are leaning, but if your child hasn’t shown any particular passions, the careers in Earn My Keep could be helpful to you.
Since we homeschool, I’m not sure if I’ll actually go through the careers in Earn My Keep (I’m a little loathe to add more educational work for me!), but I can see this book being a useful tool for some parents and children.
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I’m also reading Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God
. I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while, and now that I’m involved with the worship band at our church, I finally borrowed it from my mom.
So far, I think it’s really good…lots of talk about serving the congregation and helping them to worship (thus avoiding a performance driven, “look at me!” kind of thing), plus practical tips for helping music ministry to run more smoothly.
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With the kids, Mr. FG and I are reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
(we’re working our way through all the Chronicles of Narnia books in the evenings).
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the Narnia books are great for adults and children alike (even 5 year old Zoe loves them), but maybe I should tell you that reading out loud as a family is a great frugal, educational, enjoyable activity, even when all of your children can read (and all of mine can now). Experiencing a story together is so much fun, and since children can understand read-out-loud material at a level far higher than the level they can read themselves, you can expose them to deep story lines and rich vocabulary that they wouldn’t otherwise experience.
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And lastly, Mr. FG and I are reading A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World
. We read this together at night before bed, although for the last few weeks we haven’t managed to get in very many sessions at all!
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Have you read anything fabulous lately?
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Today’s 365 post: This picture makes me smile.
Just Gai
Tuesday 30th of August 2011
PS My dad read to my sister and me when we were young. We started with picture books and moved on through traditional children's stories (including CS Lewis and Dickens) to, as we grew older, some rather unusual ones, such as Jekyll and Hyde and the Tales of Poe.
My dad was a brilliant reader. He did all the voices and sang all the songs. I'm indebted to him for my love of well written prose.
I read to my children when they were young. They're not avid readers at the moment but I'm hoping they will return to books as they grow older.
Just Gai
Tuesday 30th of August 2011
I'm just back from a week's holiday in Croatia where I read The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, in which he examines the lives of a handful of residents as they struggle to survive during the siege of their beloved city. It raises interesting questions on how we react to acts of violence against us, how we deal with fear, how we decide on what really matters and what it is to be truly human.
Tara
Saturday 27th of August 2011
I hope you are reading the Chronicles in the right order! Somewhere along the line, publishers starting numbering them chronologically by story (putting the Magician's Nephew first), instead of the order they were written, with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first, Magician's Nephew is number six. Some people think it doesn't matter, but in my experience, I think the series loses some of the magic when you know too much too soon. :)
erin
Friday 26th of August 2011
Chris and I both read A Praying Life and loved it! Zealous Love looks like a great book, I'm going to check that out. Currently I'm finishing up Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson, which has been awesome! Cami's been doing chapter books right now we are on Farmer Boy with the little house series. Thanks for sharing this list.
Beth Anne @ Thrifty Living
Friday 26th of August 2011
I love the Narnia books too! I read the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my 2 year old daughter this summer. It took a while, reading only half a chapter in a sitting at times, but she really remembers the characters and understands a good portion of the story! Our copy has pictures on the first page of each chapter which helped also.
My husband and I are currently reading aloud "Everyone here spoke sign language" a book about hereditary deafness in Martha's Vineyard. It is a fascinating book about community - the members of this community all spoke sign language so that the deaf individuals could fully participate in daily life! Its not your typical read aloud book, but we have both enjoyed it very much.