Fly By Night

When I left work yesterday, the skies had recently decided that we needed more rain. Lots of it. All at once. It was pretty intense.

As a result, I was fairly unwilling to go out anywhere. So instead of braving the weather, I grabbed my Slavonic book to study. Unfortunately for the Slavonic and my study thereof, I have this problem. You see, the surest way to get me to read is to give me homework. Even if it's homework I want to do, I am more likely to get lost in reading.

Anyway, there was a book in the middle of my fiction section that was calling to me, and when I got close enough, it grabbed me. This was problematic, but books are tricky that way.

Fly By Night is a fantasy/adventure of the teen lit ilk. It is set in something not unlike Medieval England in much the same way that Lemony Snicket's series was set in not quite Victorian England. Its plot is reminiscent, though not a copy, of Avi's Crispin. Basically, this was exactly the sort of book that is guaranteed to devour me until every glorious word has been read. And devour it did.

It is for this reason and this reason alone that I am now facing the longest day of the week having had only four hours of sleep. That infernal book would not release me until I finished reading the final page at 2:30 am.

It was wonderful!

Because It's Me

So, a few of my friends are posting the books they're reading. I thought I might do the same. I can't guarantee my reading list won't be as unpredictable as me. We'll just have to see, I guess.

Meanwhile, my January reading included the latest installments from two teen lit series.


I have enjoyed Avi since late elementary school when I read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. I read the first Crispin book a few years ago when I was a school librarian, and I rather enjoyed it.

Crispin is an orphan boy in feudal England. In book one, we follow him through his first few weeks on his own as he runs from the steward of his village. He falls under the protection of an imposing man named Bear, who teaches him to hunt, to juggle, to play the flute, and to read.

In book two, Crispin's adventures continue. He and Bear are still running, and now there's a young girl to protect, as well.



Another series I picked up as a librarian was The Children of the Lamp, by P. B. Kerr. These are incredibly fun. The first is full of plays on words that the average teen might not pick up, but they had me howling.

This particular installment, the fourth, was as fun as the others. What set book four apart for me, though, is the setting. Not only did the kids find themselves in Xian, China, but they went there as a result of a conversation with Marco Polo! How cool is that?

It's a Dance

It is a strange thing to read words, phrases, and ideas in a book and know the stories behind them. Such things should be expected, however, when the book in question was written by a good friend.

The book, Patrick's first, takes a look at the work of the Spirit in the Church. This is not a typical theology book, however. Instead of the dense prose one might expect, the audience is given the opportunity to listen in on a series of conversations.

Patrick introduces the reader to fictional journalist Luke and his exploration of what church looks like in Southern California. After visiting a number of churches, Luke meets Nate, who pastors a fictional church in Pasadena.

Now that the stage is set, Nate and Luke meet several times to discuss Nate's ideas of church, how they developed, and how they are applied in the church, the Upper Room. These conversations are punctuated with additional input from other members of the church. Luke's week of interviews culminates in his visit to the church, where he finally sees how these ideas play out in practice.

Patrick's fictional church is clearly what we would call emergent, but his extensive study of the early Church is a constant presence. One almost has to wonder how the Eastern Orthodox and Emergent ideologies can coexist in the same person. He seems to be holding Orthodox doctrine in tension with Emergent practice. It works for him though, at least for the purpose of this book.

Over all, this was a good read. It is accessible, making it easy for those of us who might not typically read theology. On the other hand, Patrick is quite intelligent and well educated, with degrees from Wheaton and Fuller Seminary, and his thoughts are well developed and well communicated, making it something my more theologically minded friends can appreciate.

It's a Dance on Amazon
Perichoresis Blog
Patrick's Blog

More Odds & Ends

His grandma had to have surgery. It went fine, but it meant he had to stay. This is, of course, understandable. It sucks, but it's understandable. :)

The paperbackswap books are on their way. Woohoo!

My friend Patrick has his first book available for preorder on Amazon. I ordered it a few days ago. Amazon tells me it should arrive around Halloween. Yay! I'll have to drag him off the mountain sometime so he can sign it for me. :)

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Now playing: Schumann - Der Erlkonig
via FoxyTunes

A Moratorium Lifted

About two years ago, I decided it would be interesting to count how many books I owned that I had yet to read. The number was nearly in the three digit range. I was, therefore, placed on a book-buying ban.

Slowly, very slowly, I have whittled that number down from ninety-something to sixty-something. Not bad, really, especially since I have a tendency to acquire books in spite of myself. Also not bad considering this number does not include assigned reading or borrowed books. Still, there are some thick books left to finish reading. Complete works. Shakespeare, Poe, Frost. There are some challenges ahead. Dante, Plato, Machiavelli, a few Russians. Eeek!

Well, I, personally, have been very good about not buying myself recreational reading for two years. Then the Boss gave me a Borders gift card for my birthday. So on Sunday, in the company of Squirrel, who was present at the beginning of the ban, I declared the moratorium ended.

Within an hour, I had acquired books 2, 3, and 4 of the Underland Chronicles, one Tolkien, and one Bryson. I had already read the Underlands, and by the end of the night, I had finished Roverandom, leaving only one new unread book. Woohoo!

I have this habit of weeding out old books to make room for new books. Space has always been limited. In fact, I have had the same three bookcases for about as long as I can remember and, until the last three years, I was very good about not outgrowing that space. No more. I really cannot purge sufficiently anymore. I may as well gouge out an eye or amputate a limb. In fact, I might even have enough homeless books to fill my small bookcase again. I've been checking Ikea, the Goodwill store, and Craigslist for bookcases I could afford, all to no avail.

Then I went to Biglots.

Now I have a bookcase, for which I paid less than $30, which will be assembled and filled this weekend.

New books! And a place to put them! YAY!