A Bounty of Books

Accidental Saints: Finding God In All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber is a collection of stories of grace made evident through an unlikely group of people. Bolz-Weber is a Lutheran pastor who founded House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. Most of these stories come from her interactions with people in that community.

Bolz-Weber's style is honest and raw, sometimes uncomfortably so. There is no element of the "safety" of anonymity in these stories. She shares them with her and others' brokenness out for everyone to see. She is unapologetic about her past or her present. While her transparency and openness are very appealing and winsome, there is a flip side to that. Her liberal use of offensive language completely turned me off at first. It took a conscience mental effort to set that aside, see past it, and learn form the truth of grace each story presents. Some people won't find it a problem, but for others, its something to be aware of. In the end, I'm glad I was able to set it aside and see the truth, because I benefited from it. However, I know some will be unable to do that, and its something I wish I had known in advance. Because I was completely unfamiliar with Bolz-Weber before reading this, it felt somewhat like an ambush.

Overall, each story told in Accidental Saints pushed against my experience and sense of grace. It did this in a good way, because it stretched me. I appreciate Bolz-Weber's willingness to point out how much more powerful (and real) grace looks, the messier the situation. Anyone who is ready and or willing to be pushed in the same way will benefit from reading Accidental Saints.

Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South by Christopher Dickey is the story of Robert Bunch, Britain's consul in Charleston from 1853 -1863. Bunch served in a place where slavery was a huge issue, during a time when Britain was leading the way in ending the world wide slave trade.

Robert Bunch helped shaped Britain's views of the American South and it's "peculiar institution" during a time when the stakes were high. Britain had abolished slavery in its country and was attempting to end the slave trade world wide. This was one of their leading causes during this time, and most of the conflict in this area was occurring right where Bunch worked and lived. The delicate political situation of recognizing the Confederate States of America or not eventually led to Bunch's removal from Charleston.

Our Man in Charleston tells an interesting story, just not quite the one I expected. I expected it to be more espionage related, based on the title. However, Bunch was a diplomat through and through. While maintaining his personal views while at the same time maintaining relationships with those around him did require a certain amount of subterfuge, it was more diplomatic in nature. This book is heavy on description and narration, which makes its pace somewhat slow. Someone more interested in diplomatic maneuverings would probably appreciate it more than I did. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in foreign involvement in American history in the fifty years or so leading up to the Civil War.

Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Messy Grace: How A Pastor With Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction by Caleb Kaltenbach is Kaltenbach's story of supporting the truth of the Bible in a difficult, and for him very personal, area of life. As the title states, Kaltenbach is a pastor whose parents both identify as homosexual.

In Messy Grace, Kaltenbach tells his story of growing up with an out mother in a committed relationship and a closeted father. Growing up, he was taught that Christians hate people, and originally attended church hoping to better combat the hatred he saw hurled at his mother and her partner by Christians. To his surprise, he fell in love with Jesus and has spent his life since then pursuing and serving Him.

Kaltenbach does an excellent job of laying out both his opinions and experiences and what the scripture says about homosexuality. He encourages everyone to re-examine their own preconceived ideas in light of what scripture says. Kaltenbach offers a good mix of personal experience and general principals and practices. Each chapter includes discussion questions at the end for a deeper look. The main theme is that there is a tension between grace and truth that every believer must follow. Holding a traditional, biblical view of homosexuality does not give Christians permission to either ignore or treat badly those in the LGBT community. In fact, the Gospel argues the opposite approach must be taken. Kaltenbach offers practical suggestions about the two communities engaging and interacting with one another.

Not everyone will agree with Kaltenbach's views, which he readily admits. His main goal is to move the conversation a little farther along than it was before. Messy Grace is an easy and practical read that will benefit many all along the spectrum of this important issue. It's a good resource and recommendable to everyone.

Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

The Printer and the Preacher: Ben Franklin, George Whitefield, and the Surprising Friendship that Invented America by Randy Petersen examines the somewhat unlikely friendship that spanned decades of each man's life. Using historical sources, including letters written between the men, Petersen lays out the trajectory of each man's life and how the overlap of their lives helped shape American history.

Petersen gives a thumbnail sketch of each man's life before their first interaction, but the majority of the book is spent discussing how Whitefield and Franklin influenced and helped one another. The way each life is presented, Petersen is trying to get the reader to see many parallels between them. He points out similarities in social standing, success, and thought, especially about engaging with and bettering one's community. The main difference was that Franklin thought the solution to all of society's woes was in civic engagement, and Whitefield thought the solution was Jesus.

The similarities Petersen points out are interesting, though some of them seem like somewhat of a stretch. Whitefield and Franklin did seem to have a symbiotic relationship that made both of them more successful than they could have been alone. It's clear they had a deep respect and affection for one another, though their opinions on many matters varied, sometimes widely. It's an overstatement to claim their friendship "invented America," but it does seem to have been an important relationship that is often overlooked when examining America's history.

The Printer and the Preacher is an interesting book about the friendship of two historically significant men. The pace is somewhat slow, and some of the connections feel forced. There is a fair amount of repetition and conjecture, though Petersen is good about pointing out what are just his thoughts. Overall, anyone who is a fan of early American history or of the first Great Awakening will find this an interesting, if not quite engaging, read. 

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookLook book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him by Mimi Baird is comprised largely of the account of her father's stay in a mental institution in the 1940s. Using his original manuscript that she edited for clarity, Baird recounts the story of the man whose illness stole him from her.

Dr. Perry Baird was a successful dermatologist in the Boston area in the 1940s. He suffered from what today would be called bipolar disorder. The lack of understanding and effective treatment of mental illness during this time led to his involuntary incarceration in Westborough State Hospital.

Without giving too much away, I find myself wondering, as Dr. Baird himself did, if the treatment he received while in the hospital only exacerbated his problem and led to the drastic measures both he and the medical community would later take. Dr. Baird's description of his treatment and his thoughts during his manic times is remarkably clear and well articulated. He allows the reader to almost feel what he was going through. Mimi Baird's contribution that describes the rest of her father's life after his manuscript ends adds to the dismay I felt for Dr. Baird and his family. The separation imposed by society at the time between the mentally ill and everyone familiar to him only added to the brokenness of the situation.

Anyone interested in the history of mental health treatment in America will find He Wanted the Moon an engaging read. Those interested in family relationships and the dynamics of society in the 1940s will also find  this book of interest.

Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Detained by Don Brown is a novel about a terrorist plot against the U.S. There are several moving parts, including a foreign-born member of the United States Navy, his father, two Navy JAG lawyers, the Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy and his wife, and several characters from the Department of Homeland Security. Honestly, there are too many main characters for any of them to be fully developed.

The plot of Detained is convoluted at best. I have read other novels of Brown's in the past, and remember enjoying them, which is why I was so surprised with how much I did not like Detained. The plot is so outlandish and the characters seem like they belong in an SNL skit they are so one sided and a mockery of themselves.

I generally enjoy any novel that takes place in the military world, even if the plot and/or characters are not as developed or tight as I normally prefer them. However, there was just nothing in Detained I could latch on to. This won't stop me from reading Don Brown in the future, but I definitely won't be reading the rest of this series. 

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookLook book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255