Many of the recent classics feature invasive technology. 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and The Giver come to mind. The speaker on the wall, the camera in the room, the eye in the sky, always watching. Today, we live with all of these things. We’re living the classics. The only difference is who’s watching, and why. In the right […]
Category: books
Seven things I learned from The Giver, by Lois Lowry
1. Choice creates risk. With choice come wrong choices, and wrong choices bring harm. Given the harm, it’s tempting to eliminate choice. But choice brings joy and maturity. Better to equip the chooser to choose than to remove the choice. 2. Pain is something we avoid. Superficial avoidance is easy — simply find something to take your […]
I’m glad I read this
As a publishing person, I read books for a living. Great books. Last Thursday I carried a stack of them into a meeting and revealed that each one was an author’s “life message.” The fruit of careful study and decades of experience. Masterpieces and treasures. Not everything I read was written for me. Often I read […]
Patrick O’Brian for pastors
My pastor friends inspire me. Their work is redemptive — and rigorous. I see them straining at the oars for months at a time, and I see God’s grace in their wake. When we talk books, this is what I hear: commentaries, theology, and reference. Also, books about the church, leadership, spiritual life, and social issues. Plus […]
Seven reasons to stop reading a novel
Randall Payleitner reads more than I do, and the books he recommends are always worth reading. Here are his thoughts on what’s not worth reading. (1) It has sustained periods of boringness. Plenty of good books have slow spots, but if you’re fighting sleep or reading pages at a time without retention — maybe it’s […]
