Arts and Music at Redeemer

Gene Leonardson wrote:

In case you are still collecting book titles, the one I have been reading recently is Wallace Stegner and the American West by Philip L. Fradkin.

Those who have enjoyed Stegner’s fiction, both the stories and the writing, will enjoy this book. It ties together the course of his life with the characters and action of his works. I suppose because Fradkin wants to be sure to be objective, the chapter on the controversy over Angle of Repose is too long. Nevertheless, this biography is a pleasure to read.

I’m a bit of a book-a-holic, so I’ll limit myself to just my favorite reads from this summer.

Fiction:
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer Fleming
A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander
The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman (and others in this great series)
In the Woods by Tana French
The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber
Touchstone by Laurie R. King

Non-Fiction:
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle
The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman
New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

– Angela

Elizabeth Moses shared a few of the books that she read this past summer.

Thomas Cahill: Gifts of The Jews and How The Irish Saved Civilization

Jerry L. Sittser: A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss

“A small book by a professor and a Christian who lost his wife, mother, and daughter in a car accident. Very insightful for many kinds of loss.”

Sharon Grabner send us some picks from her summer reading list:

Towing Jehovah by James Morrow
“A ship’s captain, responsible for an oil spill, is enlisted by an angel to tow the Corpus Dei to a tomb in the Arctic for burial. The journey involves and invites discourse and questions around faith vs. reason, why God died, what happens when we’re really close to God’s body, how we might behave if we think God isn’t looking over our shoulders. . . ”

Blameless in Abaddon by James Morrow
“The Corpus Dei has now been turned into a religious theme park attraction. A cancer ridden judge, also grieving the death of his wife, journeys through the Corpus Dei and ultimately puts God on trial in International court, for His perceived role in human suffering.”

My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike by Joyce Carol Oates
“If there’s a chance of forgetting the dark side of human behavior a read of Joyce Carol Oates can generally repair this quickly. This newest novel is a fictionalized telling of the JonBenet Ramsay story with portrayal of family dysfunction, psychological motivations for behavior and empathy.”

Ivan Doig’s Montana trilogy:

• English Creek
• Dancing at the Rascal Fair
• Ride With Me, Mariah Montana

“I love his one liners that summarize behavior such as ‘Awful the spew we have in us at our worst.’”

The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by Gerald Basil Edwards
“Fictionalized autobiography of a life spent entirely on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands with careful observation of daily routines, interactions and the changes of time.”

Books in progress:

Fellowship of Fear by Aaron Elkins
Dirt, Greed and Sex by L William Countryman
A Dance to the Music of Time — 1st Movement by Anthony Powell

Debi Laughlin shares a couple of her favorite books from this past summer, the first of which she picked up from Seattle’s Episcopal Bookstore:

The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach The West…Again by George G. Hunter III
“It talks about the difference between the way the Romans evangelized with logic (apologetics) and a system of rules; and the way Celts (Irish) evangelized by forming relationships and community using analogies and personal stories to relate the gospel.”

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
(Which is also a favorite of ours! - Wade & Angela)

Karl, Melinda and Dan Oles sent us their summer reading lists:

C.S. Lewis, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength (K, M, and D aloud)

Harold Orel, ed., Kipling Interviews and Recollections (K and M, aloud)

Jules Verne, Dick Sands and Measuring a Meridian (K)

A.C. Ewing, Value and Reality, The Philosophical Case for Theism (K)

Hilaire Belloc, Louis XIV (K)

C. Vriezen, The Religion of Ancient Israel (K)

Damon Runyon, Take It Easy (K and M, aloud)

Jacques Pepin, The Apprentice (K and M, aloud)

Charles Williams, Many Dimensions (K, M, and D, aloud)

Catherine Coulter, Talespin (M)

Nora Roberts, Tribute (M)

Robert Jordan, Conan the Barbarian (Dan)

Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files (Dan)

Michael Ende, The Neverending Story (Dan)

Robert Louis Stevenson, Island Nights’ Entertainments (Dan)

Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melnibone (Dan)

Debi Laughlin suggested it might be fun to ask the folks in the parish what they read this summer, and post their book lists on the blog. We agreed!

To kick things off, here’s what one parishioner read this summer:

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
“About Iwo Jima and the US media frenzy. Better than the movie!”

When I Was Cool - My Life at the Jack Kerouac School by Sam Kashner
“A memoir about Sam’s experiences enrolling in Allen Ginsberg’s and William Burroughs’s poetry college. When he arrives he quickly realizes he is the only student but decides to stay enrolled in the ‘college’.”

Remembering Slavery - African Americans Talk About Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation, edited by Ira Berlin
“The title says it all. I recommend this.”

Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time - The Historical Jesus & The Heart of Contemporary Faith by Marcus Borg
“One of those great books that I want to share with friends but can’t yet bear to give up my copy.”