LOVE the hotel so, so much. LOVE IT.

I'm so sad that I'm at the end of this series.

I love how Snicket handles good v. evil in such a postmodern way - is bad ever good? Is good ever bad? Is doing nothing good or bad? Great questions that older kids and teens (and adults!!) need to wrestle with.

Snicket knows where he's going in this series, and that's not always the case in children's books. I can't wait to see what's in store. :)

I am not a Joshua Harris fan at all, but at the time I read this (2006) I liked what he did in this book.

While this was what I needed to read at the time, I'm unsure how I'd feel about Harris's words now. But I don't plan on re-reading it anytime soon.

Wang Lung is getting married, and he realizes that he is a man and must provide for his woman. As they age, work together, have a family and save, we get a glimpse into the life of farmer and his relationship to the earth, which contrasts with the rich in the area.

Wang Lung's focus is almost always on the land, until he gets rich...then it moves into idleness and "rich man" behavior, such as purchasing another woman. We fear that he will follow similar patterns as the Lord from whom O-Lan (his wife) was bought out of slavery, but this is not completely true.

We walk with Wang Lung, groaning at the decisions he has to make to live by the wall, to steal the jewels, to take the two pearls from O-Lan to buy something for his prostitute, to the stark difference of how his boys are raised compared to him. His lesser reliance on the gods/shrines as his wealth grows is fascinating as well. But deep down, Wang Lung is connected to the earth. The earth is what really makes his soul sing.

I found it fascinating that through it all, especially after O-Lan's death, one of his continual great delight was in his daughter with special needs.

In the end, when the sons look over their old father's head and "promise" that they will not sell the land...my heart broke, and something about this moment reminded me of the dire time and needs presented in the entirety and the end of Grapes of Wrath. I'd love to pair these books with a high school English class and discuss the differences/similarities of wealth, poverty, toil, tragedy, and culture, etc.

All I could think about this book is that I wanted to pair it with The Grapes of Wrath

Pairings: Grapes of Wrath

Soong-Chan Rah writes about the American Church's lack of lament and why we so desperately need lament in our current social and political climate.

This is one of those books that I wish I had written, but I'm so thankful that I didn't because someone else did a much better job! Rah's writing is clear and and passionate, and for a girl already on board with the need for (at least) weekly lament in congregational gatherings AND whose favourite book of the bible is Lamentations, this blew. my. mind. This accessible-yet-scholarly view of Lamentations leaves the reader with a sense of urgency for churches to not only understand why lament was needed in its particular context, but offers suggestions on the importance of the "why" to begin this process of corporate and personal lament...and casting a vision of what lament could provide to our churches and our individuals in order to worship "well" and to begin to acknowledge our personal and corporate generational sins. And this is just scratching the surface. I urge you - no matter where you are on the conservative-liberal continuum - read this book.

I will be hearing Rah speak in a few months, and I cannot contain my excitement!

Recommended.

McManus, the founder of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, writes about what it means to be a creative person and a Christian - after all, The creative creator must've made us all creative, right? In 7 sections, he explores the facets of the artisan soul, using some fantastic, innovative-but-solid theology about not only unleashing our imagination, but the importance of discipline and checking our relationships and our souls.

While I will say this book is definitely not written in a for everyone, (I'm gonna guess that he is a 4w3 like me!) McManus and I are definitely one and the same on a lot of these views, and I really resonated with a lot of the book. When I began the book, I didn't feel that convicted because these were truths I had believed for a long time, and it felt a little too light. I promise you, this is just the beginning - later in the book, he socked me in the gut. ;) I love the way that he weaves his own experiences and the experiences of others (neither of which are over-used) to explain these points. Enneagram 4s - seriously, this is the book for us. McManus is a fantastic example that artists are NOT loosey goosey - artists can do GOOD theology, too! This is a powerful read and I already ordered a copy for myself!

I really loved the exercise in the back of the book as well. I've read through it, but I'm hoping to do some of the steps a little more slowly.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who calls themselves a creative person, but I will say - keep going during/after the first chapter. McManus also has a particular passionate writing style that I really enjoyed, but I imagine some people would not like.

This story traces the relationship of Miranda and Lucia, two sisters who immigrated to the US from China as young children (Lucia not even born yet). As these sisters cross cultures and continents, we see inside their individual lives and the ups and downs of the complicated love between an older and younger sister, especially in light of childhood promises and mental illness.

I enjoyed Lee's writing style, especially her different voices and perspectives. I'm not sure if I caught everything Lee was trying to say, but the story she wove together had a sense of epic-ness to it, but it didn't feel "heavy" like an epic, if that makes sense. I loved tracing the themes and was delighted in the way that small pieces of the story kept showing up (the duck painting, the pink boots, the orange bottle) - Lee had a fantastic balance to this without overdoing it or making it too predictable. This is a lovely debut novel, and I hope Lee keeps writing.

Pairings: My Sister's Keeper,