Book reports

So, I'm reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. And loving it. It makes me smile and giggle on the T, even after a saddening evening. In Boston. A very impressive feat.

Pretty much every other sentence is one I want to reread, etch in my brain, and apply to my life. His writing is so simple and conversational and yet so profound. Here are a couple passages from the most recent chapters I've read. I can't type all the parts I like, but this is a delectable sampling for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

"Confession: Coming out of the Closet...
So much of me believes strongly in letting everybody live their own lives, and when I share my faith, I feel like a network marketing guy trying to build my down line.
Some of my friends who aren't Christians think that Chrisitans are insistent and demanding and intruding, but that isn't the case. Those folks are the squeaky wheel. Most Christians have enormous respect for the space and freedom of others; it is only that they have found a joy in Jesus that they want to share. There is the tension."
AMEN to that.

"Belief: The Birth of Cool...
The problem with Christian belief- I mean real Christian belief that there is a God and a devil and a heaven and a hell- is that it is not a fashionable thing to believe.
I had this idea once that if I could make Christianity cool, I could change the world, because if Christianity were cool then everybody would want to deal with their sin nature, and if everybody dealt with their sin nature then most of the world's problems would be solved."
I'm ashamed to say this does ring a bell.

Before this (week before last) I read C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew (book 1 of the Chronicles of Narnia). It was also fabulous. I love fantasies written for children: A Wrinkle in Time, the Giver, Harry Potter, even 1984 and Brave New World to a lesser extent. I think I've read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I know I've seen the movie, but I wanted to read the entire series, especially with the movie coming out. I have a hard time finding books that keep my attention. Or, maybe I was just always too busy with school books and studying, and now I'm not so much. At least until next semester. Yay for reading. Amy, in your honor, I thank all the people who ever helped me learn to read or to appreciate reading. :)