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Books, books, books are on my mind this week. Here\u2019s why:<\/span><\/p>\n I read <\/span>Kind Is The New Classy<\/span><\/i>, by Candace Cameron Bure with my daughter. Her message that the world needs more (so much more!) kindness is rock solid truth. She quotes Scripture throughout to back up her point, which, for someone in Hollywood was brave. My only beef was that the middle of the book was a lot more about Candace\u2019s life than anything, and I walked away wishing it went deeper than it did. I mean, she promoted much self-care and goal setting, which is fine, right up until you meet someone like myself who can\u2019t do those things like a normal person. She advocates for never allowing yourself to be hungry or overly tired, because you will likely not respond to the challenges of life well if you\u2019re suffering in those ways. This is true. But what happens when you <\/span>can\u2019t <\/span><\/i>eat a well-rounded diet, and haven\u2019t for decades, and you suffer from fatigue at some level no matter what you do? Or you don\u2019t set hardly any goals because you\u2019ve no idea what you will be able to physically accomplish from one hour to the next?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My guess is she hasn\u2019t thought to that level because she hasn\u2019t experienced that level of hardship. And that\u2019s fine. I certainly don\u2019t wish suffering upon her. I\u2019m only saying that those of us who <\/span>have<\/span><\/i> experienced significant hardship in those ways may find it difficult to walk away from the book encouraged. We may even walk away a bit <\/span>dis<\/span><\/i>couraged because we don\u2019t resonate with how to live a Christian life when being consistently well off physically, financially, emotionally, etc. Having said that \u2026 comfort and ease can be its own burden and present its own difficulties. I doubt my ability to handle good health or wealth well, and yet, I can look at people in other parts of the world and say with utmost confidence that, in comparison, I am both healthy and<\/i> wealthy.<\/span><\/p>\n So off that merry-go-round and on to other books \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m reading <\/span>A Tree Grows in Brooklyn<\/span><\/i>, because a friend recommended it. I got about thirty or forty pages into it before one of my daughters texted me and told me it was the worst book she\u2019d ever read and that I should probably save myself the agony of reading it. Haha! My girls are blunt and honest and I\u2019ve no idea where either of them get it from. But I wrote my girl back and said, \u201cUhhh. I\u2019m on page thirty-something and I love it so far. Stop talking to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Eventually, we agreed that since she read it in the tenth grade, and I\u2019m reading it at age (almost 46), perhaps the worldview and perspectives of her then versus me now is a smidgen different. I\u2019m currently on page one hundred-something, and I still love it. Anna Quindlen wrote the forward in my particular copy. In part, she said:<\/span><\/p>\n A Tree Grows in Brooklyn<\/span><\/i> is not the sort of book that can be reduced to its plot line. The best anyone can say is that it is a story about what it means to be human.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Nothing more needs to be said, in my book. Because if a story or other piece of writing is about what it means to be human, I instantly approve. Granted, humanity can get gruesome and horrifying, and some of that I can\u2019t take. Novels by the Christian fiction author Brandilyn Collins, for instance. I read three chapters of one, because my sister-in-law got so hooked on them, she became a zombie, staring at the pages until all hours of the night and then walking around with dark circles and a hangry look the next day. <\/span>Surely<\/span><\/i>, I said to myself, <\/span>Brandilyn Collins\u2019 books must be terrific.<\/span><\/i> After all, I had been the one to get my SIL hooked on Christian fiction in the first place, so it was only logical that we would appreciate the same works of art.<\/span><\/p>\n Wrong. So wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n I don\u2019t remember the name of Collins\u2019 book, but I can still tell you exactly what happened in the gruesome, opening scene, as it\u2019s etched into my memory forever. In short, a woman gets killed by a man who bangs her head into the concrete over and over. And over. The scene was vivid and much too reminiscent of the<\/span> Unsolved Mystery<\/span><\/i> shows Mom watched as I was growing up, only the book scene required very little imagination, if any.<\/span><\/p>\n Do murders happen? Yes, of course. And rapes? No doubt. But I think good books should have mercy on my fears. Philippians 4:8 tells us to meditate on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. Two-hundred, almost three-hundred pages of pure terror and gore keeps me from doing that. Besides. I value peaceful sleep. <\/span> I have no idea why I received a copy. The publishing house sent it to me directly, with a note on the outside saying \u201cyou will not be charged for this copy.\u201d This was an especially kind notice, as shortly after it came, I panicked about my Amazon account being hacked or me ordering books in my sleep again.<\/span><\/p>\n My dilemma is, what do I do with it?<\/span><\/p>\n The Babylon Bee<\/span><\/i> isn\u2019t a site I read. I did, when they first started out, and I even considered sending in a submission, because I can wield satire with the best of them (just kidding, I\u2019m only mediocre). But the more I read, the more I felt that satire can truly be overused. At times, I would read their posts, and think that some poor little old Christian lady is going to read what some smarty pants pastor wrote and wonder what\u2019s so funny because she\u2019s lived her entire life in the exact manner he mocked and doesn\u2019t understand the fuss.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus used satire, and it\u2019s entirely fine for humans to use it as well. But \u2013 all things in moderation. I am not inclined to read an entire book on poking fun at people attempting to find the right way to live life. <\/span>Usually<\/span><\/i>, it\u2019s better to help others in loving, constructive ways. <\/span>Sometimes<\/span><\/i>, it\u2019s necessary and even right to use satire, because some people\u2019s heads (mine included) are made of dried brick and mortar, and the only way to get the truth to break through is to poke fun, or make a point by presenting people as ridiculous creatures.<\/span><\/p>\n Satire, in my book, is something to use, but not liberally. Satire alone does not make a good book. But satire sprinkled throughout a book might make a page turner. Probably not though, unless you\u2019re Douglas Wilson, the real satire expert. Anyway, <\/span>How to Be A Perfect Christian <\/span><\/i>won\u2019t be read by me. I\u2019m simply going to sell it in my new Amazon bookshop, which I\u2019ve started to help us pay off mounds of medical bills. <\/span> So what makes a book good?<\/span><\/p>\n The Bible is often called <\/span>The Good Book<\/span><\/i>. I\u2019ve always assumed we refer to it as good because it\u2019s all about God, and God is good. It\u2019s also absolutely true, and whatever is true is either good or good to know. I mean, it\u2019s true that David slept with Bathsheba and then killed her husband to cover up his sin. That\u2019s clearly not good. But it\u2019s good to know the situation, see ourselves or our potential selves in the story, and learn from David\u2019s sin and subsequent repentance. Also to be noted is that though we know what happened between David and Bathsheba, we are not given the nitty gritty details. And we know David killed, but we are not privy to the gore. So there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to discuss the sins and depravity of man.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, in my book, a book can either be good because it\u2019s true and well said<\/em>, or because it\u2019s entertaining and wholesome \u2013 a rarity these days. Fiction is not true as far as setting, plot, names, etcetera are concerned. But fiction can absolutely be true in <\/span>principle.<\/span><\/i> A Tree Grows in Brooklyn<\/span><\/i> is good because it takes the real life of a very poor girl growing up in the east and allows a woman seventy-some years later in the west to read, ponder, learn, and grow from the life of another. It\u2019s get me out of my own head. My four walls. My problems. My self-centeredness. It helps me remember that others have had it much worse than I ever have, and that sickness has always been a condition of humanity, whether that sickness be spiritual, physical, emotional, or mental.<\/span><\/p>\n It assures me I\u2019m not alone.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether it tells me about God\u2019s solution to man\u2019s problems is yet to be seen (it\u2019s a five-hundred page book!), but even if it doesn\u2019t, I can always look in <\/span>The Good Book<\/span><\/i>. Jesus Christ will always be the answer to humanity\u2019s problems, whether those problems originated from our own sin or the sin of another. Half of life is learning to kill our own sins. The other half is learning to not kill another for his or her sins, but rather graciously deal with sinners the way Jesus would.<\/span><\/p>\n So I\u2019ve told you what I think makes a good book. We probably don\u2019t agree wholeheartedly, and that\u2019s okay. Grace and Peace to Brandilyn Collins, Candace Cameron Bure, and everyone at\u00a0The Babylon Bee<\/em>. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I mean no disrespect or harm. What I mean to do is figure out more concretely what makes a book good, and I kindly thank you for listening to my attempt to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 Books, books, books are on my mind this week. Here\u2019s why: I read Kind Is The New Classy, by Candace Cameron Bure with my daughter. Her message that the world needs more (so much more!) kindness is rock solid truth. She quotes Scripture throughout to back up her point, which, for someone in Hollywood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2920,"featured_media":966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[278,78,325,569,563,560,22,260,454,566],"class_list":["post-1988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-books","tag-jesus","tag-kindness","tag-literature","tag-phil-48","tag-pure-thoughts","tag-reading","tag-satire","tag-the-bible","tag-wholesome-literature"],"yoast_head":"\n
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\n<\/span>I also received a book in the mail this week. You\u2019ve probably heard of it, because it\u2019s put out by <\/span>The Babylon Bee<\/span><\/i>, and it\u2019s titled <\/span>How To Be A Perfect Christian.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>This new endeavor, plus the book buzz I\u2019ve already discussed is pushing me to consider what exactly makes a good book. I\u2019ve combed through books at Goodwill, yard sales, and the Barnes and Noble clearance rack recently, looking for good deals on good books, so I can turn around and gouge some innocent soul (#satire) who perhaps needs a book asap but doesn\u2019t have time to go tootling about town looking for it. What makes a good book and what makes a book <\/span>sell <\/span><\/i>could be two different things. I will probably sell a few books that aren\u2019t worth much in the literary sense until I get my inventory built up. But eventually, I\u2019d like to exclusively sell good, wholesome literature I would read and recommend. Everything from God honoring, true spiritual books to Calvin and Hobbes to an Atlas. Atlases, I hear, sell very well, and they\u2019re interesting, informative, and innocent.<\/span><\/p>\n