I only read 9 books in February…but, hey. The month only had 28 days, right?

Here they are:

1) Myers, Tamar. Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth. (PennDutch mysteries, #1)

2) Wallace, Daniel. The Watermelon King (Southern fiction, by the guy who wrote “Big Fish.” Loved this one.)

3) Buechner, Frederick. The Storm. (Buechner is absolutely a masterful writer…If I were to sum this one up, I would say: God is found in community.)

4) Edelman, Marian Wright. Guide My Feet: Prayers and Meditations for Our Children. (Read this in prep for the service about the sexual exploitation of children. Anyone who advocates for children–or wants to–should read this book of prayers.)

5) Roberts, Gillian. Helen Hath No Fury. (Amanda Pepper Mystery #10) (Don’t you just love her puns?)

6) Lewis, C. S. Prince Caspian. (Narnia #4) (Listened to it on audio–read by Lynn Redgrave.)

7) Myers, Tamar. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Crime. (PennDutch, #2…These Amish/Mennonite mysteries are pure fluff…guilty pleasures!)

8) McNeal, Reggie. The Present Future. (A book for work…about how church as we know it is changing…The most striking idea–how Christianity has become subsumed by “churchianity.” We aren’t so much inviting people to Christ as we are inviting them into club membership at a local church. McNeal writes from his perspective as a Southern Baptist, so not everything he says resonates with me or the context of the church I pastor, but the basic question of the relationship between church membership and faith–that’s important.)

9) Roberts, Gillian. Claire and Present Danger. (Amanda Pepper Mystey #11) (I say I read these mysteries for fun…but occasilly I run across really good sermon/ Sunday school stuff in mystery novel…like these two quotes: “I knew I should back out of that pantry and remove this scene from my mind. (An undocumented maid was hiding in the pantry obviously distressed.) This really was none of my business. Or was it—in the way it was everybody’s business. There are no parables of the Half-Assed Samaritan who asked politely, then backed off.” (47) “There are societies and religions that consider being excluded the ultimate punishment. The loss of community is basically a death penalty.” (211)

A new month, new books to read. Here goes!

Peace for your journey…