I found Identical Strangers while wandering the non-fiction audiobook aisle at my local library. Only finding out you are a twin at the age of 35? That sounded interesting enough to pick up and try. I’m always looking for interesting audiobooks, since I spend a good 10 hours a week listening to them.

Identical Strangers is the memoir-style story of Paula and Elyse, twins adopted by two different families. While this book offers plenty of discussion of the nature-vs.-nurture debate, it’s more a narrative exposition of how we determine who we are.

While the book follows their journey of discovery of the truth of their separation and their roots, it also details the depths and heights of their newly-minted relationship. When someone looks just like you and has many of the same interests and quirks, you can’t help but to be constantly comparing yourself.

I recommend Identical Strangers to anyone who finds the subject interesting. While I’m glad I listened it to on audio so that I could get through it more quickly (other reading I do in bits and pieces), I don’t think it added anything to the book.

A Girl’s Guide to Homelessness by Brianna Karp ♥♥♥

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I think any book that provides a human face to homelessness is a good thing. However, I like many others I have seen struggle with defining Brianna, as she describes it in the book, as “homeless.” While her situation (living in a RV in a Walmart parking lot) is certainly not a good one, I think that it’s certainly better than living out of your car or in a doorway somewhere.

Still, if the thought interests you, I would suggest this book. But I would take it with a bit of realism: Brianna can come off as a bit of a unreliable narrator at times (particularly when she discusses her family), so it’s hard to know what all to believe.

The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure ♥♥♥♥

I read this ebook while visiting my family in July. Since I have really enjoyed rediscovering the Little House books as an adult, this memoir of another adult Little House reader trying to step into the pages of the book.

While this book is not primarily a discovery of the “real” story of the Ingalls family, there were plenty of those real life glimpses, that I both liked and didn’t like. A bit like discovering the magic behind a spectacular stage production.

But what I really did like about this book is the exploration of why the Little House books are so appealing.

Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs ♥♥

I really like AJ Jacobs’s writing style. But after A Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All, this fell way flat. I’m not sure if it’s because of the triteness of the subject or just the fact that he didn’t seem particularly committed to this project (it was spread out over a much longer time period than his two previous books).

Even if you like Jacobs like I do, I’d skip this one.

Today I’m working my 3rd election. With the Marriage Amendment on the ballot, it’s bound to be the busiest and most controversial yet.

So, it’s only appropriate that I read A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars by Jonathan Merritt this past week. It’s actually not officially released until today, but Amazon shipped my copy early. I’m glad as I’ve looked forward to reading it. I’m tired of answering the question in the title of this blog post when I tell people I’m not a Republican.

For the record, no, I did not vote for Obama and will not likely to in November. Totally beside the point.

The author and I are of a generation that’s fed up with the political antics of the generations ahead of us, particular those in the Church. Why would the comment “Obama hates America” made by student in my elementary class be followed by nods from several of the other students? These are kids who have been raised to praise God and country (a Republican-led one, preferably).

The book starts and ends appropriately on reflecting on the legacy of Jerry Falwell. As a Liberty grad, it was something that Jonathan had to address. I have a hardtime swallowing the Falwell message, but I can’t say what I would have thought if I had come-of-age in the 1970s or 80s.

For the first half off the book, I did little but nod. Jonathan paints a picture of non-partisan views I’ve come to embrace alongside many in the Church in my generation.

The second-half of the book make it worth the read. Jonathan addresses a more loving response to those with same-sex attraction and issues of homosexuality in chapter 6. The next chapter, “Give Me the Songs of a Nation” is a chapter I wish anyone who doesn’t understand the political shift of Bible-believing Millenials would read. We aren’t rejection traditional evangelical battles like abortion and gay marriage; we just have come to recognize the need for faith to influence all of our political views.

I kinda wish the book ended there. For me, I agreed with so much up to that point that I didn’t find it challenging. I wish I could say the same for the last couple of chapters, but if I’m honest I have to admit I don’t put hands and feet to my beliefs as much as I should.

As a German minister serving the medically-needy in India said, “Christians in America and Germany forget that it is not what you think or how much power you have or how you vote that changes the world. It’s your hands that do the changing.” (p. 142)

That is exactly what I needed to read. I hope you’ll pick up this book and be challenged, too.

Surprised by Grace is a book I read early in my April free-for-all. Not watching TV has been great for my reading time!

In Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels, Tullian Tchividjian (yeah, I don’t know how to say that either) presents the book of Jonah. Yes, that’s all this book is about.

I say that’s “all” but that’s not really true. Ultimately, the book is about the Gospel or “God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels” as the subtitle indicates. In Jonah, we see that God doesn’t give up on the idolatrous nations…but neither does he give up on his wandering prophet.

I’ve always enjoyed the story of Jonah. Jonah comes across as so dense…he just didn’t get God’s plan. And really, I like Jonah because I identify with him. It’s just always easier to see someone else’s flaws than my own. I love how Tchividjian points out that there is a good chance the author of the book is Jonah himself. If so, we know that he must have finally gotten at some point. Otherwise, it would have been full of excuses!

I think one of my favorite things about this book is that Tchividjian is he draws on representations of Jonah in art. There’s a whole section of pictures, all referred to and discussed in the text. In this visual culture, I think that’s very important. Besides, it’s refreshing given the traditional discounting of the fine arts in evangelicalism. I think he handles them in an appropriate, balanced way, using the images to draw attention to particular aspects of the story or Jonah’s character.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of whether or not they’re familiar with the book of Jonah. It would serve as both a good introduction as well as a good reminder.

Now I need to get my hands on more of Tchividjian’s books!