Bonhoeffer

I must admit I am not far along in the book.  According to Kindle 10%.  What a great historical reference.  Makes many things about WWII much clearer and that is only in the first 10%.  This should be a great one to discuss just from the things that we will learn.   The study of Bonhoeffer's character and characteristics will be compelling as well.  I wonder what I will learn about the plot to assassinate Hitler as well.  Has anyone else gotten further in the book?  What do you think?

Population 485

I just finished reading this book.  I would highly recommend reading if for no other reason than to read some honest discussion of life topics.  Purpose, family, life, heros, outcasts, and even death.  It is at times funny and at times sad, and even throw in silly and deep.  I need to tell you that the calls he goes on are actual retellings and the people are real. For this reason there are times when the language may get less than wholesome.  It is in character and adds to the understanding of the people involved without being overbearing.  There are several places where I highlighted phrases or sentences that he uses as they were very wise or poignant.  One example is this: "... any behavior that excuses us from acknowledging the complexity of human experience resides one slim remove from smug disdain"  Another is this: "Memory is a means of possession, but eventually, the greatest grace is found in letting go."  Some were funny as well "I was chugging along here last fall when I was forced to the shoulder by a pack of Amish youths cruising down the hill on RollerBlades.  There is really no way to prepare for that sort of thing"  The book really brought home that life is "not easily counted off  and neatly arranged".  It also shows that some of our most humiliating and stressful times may turn out to be our most heroic moments and counter to that some events allow "pigpen boy" (you'll need to read it to understand that) to come out.  I found myself using the dictionary on amazon a great deal while reading.  For a simple country boy, he sure uses some esoteric (I love the word esoteric, it seems to define itself)  words.This is a great book to hear honest opinions and deal with the fragility, the beauty and the ugliness of life as a human.  It puts emphasis on meaning and purpose stresses respect for and patience with others.  I hope you all get a chance to read it.  I hope you can overlook the language as character setting and really think about what everyone goes through as they live life.

New Books- First of 2012

We had a great meeting to discuss Pride and Prejudice.  That certainly opened a new venue for my reading.  I am actually considering reading more Austen books and might even watch a movie or two.

For next month we picked two more books.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

http://www.amazon.com/Bonhoeffer-Pastor-Martyr-Prophet-Spy/dp/1595552464/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327367759&sr=1-1

A new biography about one of the first to speak out against Hitler.

This will be the book we discuss at the next meeting.

Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry

http://www.amazon.com/Population-485--Meeting-Neighbors-Siren/dp/0061363502/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327368498&sr=1-1

Biography of a Volunteer Fireman in snippets surrounding fire calls.

This will be the book we discuss on the website.

We also agreed to read the Princess Bride for the meeting after next but we haven't decided what the second book would be just yet.

Book Club Tomorrow Night

Are you ready to discuss Pride and Prejudice?  We start up at 7PM tomorrow.  Check out some of the links Ihave on the right had side  as well.

See you there.

Walking in the Will of God

Interesting so far.  Walking in the Will of God depends a lot more on who GOD is than what we are doing or have done.  Has anyone else gotten to read some of Steve McVey's book?  I have read about a quarter of it and like it so far, but it fits nicely with a lot of what I already think, so I was wondering if there might be dissenting opinions out there or even if you might agree with me.

Pride and Prejudice

I have made it about 40% through the book and I am surprised to say that I am enjoying it.  I hope everyone else is getting a chance to read it as well.  I am finding that Jane Austen's writing style keeps the reading very interesting and the humor in most of it is caught even with the older english writing style.  It seems to keep my mind engaged throughout the story.  Is anyone else finding it a good read or even a bad read?

Next Books

Two new books again.  Gives us a lot to talk about and hopefully will get some discussion out here on the blog.

The book we will discuss at the next meeting is a real stretch, at least for me, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  We have not tried a romance yet and so I thought lets go with a classic and expand the horizons.

The book to discuss online here on the blog is Walking in the Will of God by Steve McVey.  This may be stretching in content but isn't as much a stretch in reading material.  I am looking forward to it and hope you will join me in reading it. 

I have not read either book before and I think there may be a few like me out there although I think some of our number may have read Pride and Prejudice before and maybe they can interject some things to help the rest of us understand it better.

Feel free to post comments.

The books can be found on Amazon here:
Pride and Prejudice  (The kindle edition is free)


 Walking in the Will of God

Keep looking for new links on the right hand side of the site.