There’s something about holding a book in your hands. I may spend a lot of time reading and writing, but I am enchanted by incarnated, physical things. (Like blankets. And casseroles.) At the Festival of Faith and Writing this year, when I was tired of listening to people talk about books, I wandered around in the little bookstalls set up by various vendors, just touching the books. It’s so nice just to be able to touch the books, I told... Read more
The current issue of Christianity Today features an interview with me by the truly lovely LaVonne Neff–who really knows how to ask insightful questions–and it’s online now here. But to tempt you to make your way on over, here are a few samples: Eating with joy is great, but lots of us get downright giddy—and our joy eventually becomes diabetes and heart disease. Shouldn’t we worry about that? Diet-related illness is serious, and it disproportionately affects people who are poor,... Read more
Thanks to Tim Fall, who has blogged here before, for this guest post on gleaning and feasting… In reading the passage on the word “glean” in Keri Wyatt Kent’s Deeper Into the Word –Reflection on 100 words from the Old Testament, I found Leviticus 23:22 – When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner... Read more
My friend Amy Julia Becker has an excellent new e-book out called What Every Woman Needs to Know About Prenatal Testing: Insight from a Mom Who Has Been There. Amy Julia writes that her aim was “to write a nonjudgmental book to provide women and their partners with a way to think about prenatal testing before being offered it,” and, as unlikely as it may seem, I think she’s accomplished that, but she also acknowledges that she has a “very... Read more
In general, I make it a point to engage very lightly with negative things that people say about my writing; recently I posted on Facebook that I’d given up reading comments for Lent (and maybe forever). As one of my writer friends has said, it’s not especially conducive to good mental health—or to writerly self-confidence—to remain constantly informed of other people’s opinions of your writing. Still, to write for other people should be more than a one-sided conversation, and reviews... Read more
Byron Borger of Hearts & Minds Books has an excellent review of what sounds like a very good new book–A Faith Embracing All Creatures–at the Humane Society website. I was surprised and delighted to see my new book mentioned as “the essential ‘go-to’ entry level, must-read book on the subject” of faith and eating. Byron writes: In the last decades there have been academic (and often arcane) theological writings about animal welfare, but few widely-available, easily accessible books for traditional... Read more
The lovely Aubry Smith recently posted a review of my new book, which you may read in its entirety here. But here are some of my favorite parts, with my comments italicized and in brackets: “I’m also nine months pregnant, which brings its own set of complications to the table: I indulge in some cravings, but I have a bit of anxiety from reading too many baby books that warn us that “every bite counts,” and that promise if I... Read more
In her memoir Bossypants, Tina Fey claims that everyone knows Photoshopped images aren’t real, but she also acknowledges that the culture of beauty has changed significantly since she was a girl. Back then, “you were either blessed with a beautiful body or not. And if you were not, you could just chill out and learn a trade.” Today, however, “if you’re not ‘hot’ you are expected to work on it until you are… If you don’t have a good body,... Read more
I know I’ve bragged on my dad’s drawing before, but isn’t this just great? “Dinosaur Island” is the pretend-world about which he and my boys spin many outrageous stories, often involving (you guessed it) dinosaurs. Still, the adventurers have gone on whaling expeditions off the coast of the island and even, I believe, engaged with extra terrestrials. And one of my dad’s bedtime secrets (don’t tell my boys) is to have the overly loquacious Smith and Jones enter into boring... Read more
Here’s my dad, reading my book. He liked it lots. Of course he did. He’s my dad. He’s very supportive and loving. But he’s also a voracious reader, and brutally honest. He doesn’t ‘do’ false praise. So if he likes it, it means something. Last week I posted ten reasons why you or someone you know might like to read my book. Here are ten more. You or someone you know might like to read this book if: 10. You... Read more
Rachel Marie Stone
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