Books I Read in 2023, Vol. VII

 

DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND DENIM
David Sedaris

David Sedaris plays in the snow with his sisters. He goes on vacation with his family. He gets a job selling drinks. He attends his brother’s wedding. He mops his sister’s floor. He gives directions to a lost traveler. He eats a hamburger. He has his blood sugar tested. It all sounds so normal, doesn’t it? In his newest collection of essays, David Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface. His world is alive with obscure desires and hidden motives — a world where forgiveness is automatic and an argument can be the highest form of love. [This book] is another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.

This book is also another one of my "4 for $1" Dakota County Library finds. Youngest daughter, KayJay, had gifted Sedaris' Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk to me 11 years ago (read its review here) and I thought it was pretty funny, so when I saw this at such a cheap price, I snatched it up. Not as many actual laughs here, but certainly humorous essays nonetheless. This collection is far more personal than the previous book I had read, kind of like a memoir-with-poetic-license. Commenting on this book, Ann Hood, of the Providence Journal, wrote: "It's tough to write humor; it's tougher still to make humor matter." Can't really say that I  think Sedaris has done it with this collection. It's okay...but does it matter? Meh.

First Line: When my family first moved to North Carolina, we lived in a rented house three blocks from the school where I would begin the third grade.

Page 56 / Line 5: Rather than sparkling, they remained flat and impassive, like old dimes.

Last Line: So pleasing to the eye.

Books I Read in 2023, Vol. VI

 

PRAYING LIKE MONKS, LIVING LIKE FOOLS: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer
Tyler Staton

It's time to experience prayer in its purest form  -  a vital, sustaining, powerful connection with God that is more real and alive than you could have ever imagined. In these pages, Tyler Staton  -  author, pastor, and US national director of the 24-7 Prayer movement  -  addresses common roadblocks to prayer and gives you the confidence to come to God just as you are.

The coolest thing about this book is that I saw it on a list of books that my daughter-in-law was getting ready to read and I asked her to tell me about it when she was done...not knowing that she had already got a copy for me. The second coolest thing is that it didn't fill me with guilty feelings about the shape my prayer life was in, but gave me motivation and practical suggestions on how to DO something about it. This is an easy-to-understand book, but now I need to let it affect my actions and not just my brain.

First Line: It's eerily quiet tonight in the city that never sleeps.

Page 56/Line 5: Calling God "Father" is dismissible today.

Last Line: It looks less like intensity, and a lot more like joy.

PRETTY BABY Brooke Shields: A Review and a Recommendation

 

Beloved and I watched the two-part ABC News/Hulu documentary, PRETTY BABY Brooke Shields, and hoo-boy!

There was the standard chronological rundown of her career, starting with commercials as a baby, quickly followed by her highly-sexualized commercials as a child...and teen...and on and on. The movies Pretty Baby, Blue Lagoon, and Endless Love all focused on her character losing her virginity...at the ages of 12, 14, and 15.

The documentary rightly wonders if these movies could even be made today, especially Pretty Baby and Blue Lagoon, but in the final few minutes, in a conversation between the now 57-year-old Shields and her two daughters, an interesting observation about the similarities between what was done to Shields and what today's social media "influencers" are doing to themselves hits home.

While a few of the images shown are adult-ish, and the subject matter is definitely for the mature of mind and heart, both my thumbs are up for this doc, and both my eyes are wide open in amazement at how Shields has managed to live through it all with a fairly healthy self-image.

There are some important parent-child conversations to be had based on this piece of work.

Books I Read in 2023, Vol. V

 

IS THIS ANYTHING?
Jerry Seinfeld

"Is this anything?" is what every comedian says to every other comedian about any new bit they want to try. Jerry Seinfeld has been asking that question since he was twenty years old and stepped onstage at Catch a Rising Star on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on a Monday audition night in 1975. This book is essentially the complete files of his lifetime pursuit of material to support the thrilling but unforgiving art of stand-up comedy. From his first six minutes on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to his nine-year detour in a well-known sitcom, from Pop-Tarts and monkey astronauts to cotton balls and baby alligators in bathtubs. If the answer to "Is this anything?" was "Yes," it is included in this comprehensive compilation of his comedy.

I borrowed this from the library specifically for the long flight and lazy poolside hours of our recent Florida vacation. It was a decent way to while away the hours, even though the actual laughs generated could probably be counted on both hands and feet. I think I would have benefited from the "Read by the Author" audio version...that I didn't know existed until I searched for the picture attached to this post.

First Line: "Is this anything?" is what every comedian says to every other comedian about any new bit.

Page 56 / Line 6: I've been here nine years.

Last Line: And it's not a wet dream, thanks to Flex Seal.

Jesus Revolution: The Movie, Not the Revival

 

Beloved and I went to see the movie, Jesus Revolution, because it is set at the beginning of the Jesus Movement in Southern California. My teen years in Northeastern Indiana were greatly influenced by the music birthed in that place at that time.

And the truth is, the whole world was influenced by these hippies, high school and college students, and yes, even some white-haired tie-wearers who dove into the truth that Jesus loved them.

The movie seems to be based on Greg Laurie's memoir and focuses on his conversion and romantic love story, rather than attempting to be a dramatic documentary of the Jesus Freaks.

I tried really hard to not be disappointed by that. It was a valid choice to tell the story through Greg's eyes. But I never really felt all that connected to him as a character.

That's not to say I didn't like the movie. I did! I mean, it has the character being played by the actor who is Jesus in The Chosen, jokingly saying that people say he looks like Jesus. That was a pretty funny in-joke. And then he clearly and heartwarmingly lays out the gospel and extends a call to all who are anxious or feel outcast or are looking for peace and love.

Well done.

It was, as far as I could tell, historically accurate and honest. Nobody came off as a too-good-to-be-true perfect example of faith, including Greg Laurie. That's an accomplishment for a "Christian movie"!

The timing of this movie's release and the Asbury Revival and the division in our country is interesting to me. It would neither bother me nor surprise me if something far bigger than box office receipts happened soon and very soon.

Books I Read in 2023, Vol. IV

 

YOU'RE NOBODY 'TIL SOMEBODY KILLS YOU: A Rat Pack Mystery
Robert J. Randisi

This time, it's not really a Rat Pack member who needs help from Eddie G., Sands Casino pit boss and friend of the Rat Pack, but an extended family member. Marilyn Monroe, still smarting from being blamed for Clark Gable's death after the filming of The Misfits, thinks she's being followed. Eddie's on the job, but when he gets word that his mother has died, Eddie goes home to Brooklyn for the first time in fourteen years and leaves his buddy, P.I. Danny Bardini, to look after Marilyn. Then Eddie hears that Danny is missing...

With the words "this time," the back-cover blurb clues you into the fact that this is one of a series of books featuring fictionalized versions of Frank Sinatra and friends. This is the third or fourth in the series that I've read. I like Randisi's style. Not a lot of foul language and also not a lot of wordy descriptive passages. He keeps the story moving, staying true to the characters he's created and the timeframe of the events. Three out of four stars.

First Line: I like the Flamingo, and the Riv.

Page 56, Line 5: Of course, Tony had the lead in that movie, and had uttered the famous words, "Yonder lies the castle of my father," only with his Brooklyn accent he'd said "fadduh."

Last Line: God help us.

Books I Read in 2023, Vol. III

 

BOURGEOIS BABES, BOSSY WIVES, AND BOBBY HAIRCUTS: A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry
Michael F. Bird

Author and New Testament scholar Michael Bird was formerly in favor of distinct gender roles in ministry, a viewpoint commonly called "complementarianism." But inconsistencies in practice and careful biblical study convinced him to rethink his position. [This book] offers an engaging, incisive perspective on biblical gender equality and the egalitarian view  -  a preference for allowing women to hold teaching and leadership positions in ministry. While Bird is now egalitarian, he strikes a respectful tone toward those in his previous camp, seeking to craft a perspective that both values women and upholds biblical differences between the sexes. Humorous and hard-hitting, Bird will challenge readers on both sides of the gender-issue divide.

For the past two years, the elders at Valley Christian Church have been studying and discussing the questions at the center of this book. As part of that study, they all read this book...while I was on a year-long sabbatical (so I just now caught up by reading it myself). It's not very long, but it does a great job of explaining why the author changed his position and does it with personal humility and respect for all concerned.

First Line: Many years ago, the Baptist fundamentalist John R. Rice published a polemical booklet called Bobbed Hair, Boddy Wives, and Women Preachers, written to censure women for rebellious acts like cutting their hair.

Page 56/Line 5: If I had time, I would love to document the work of indigenous women in Africa, Asia, and South America, who have faithfully served God in positions of leadership and as proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last Line: When both sides concede as much, then perhaps the gender war will be over.