My reading habit fell apart for much of June. Too much social media. Inattention. Not enough blocks of time to get into books. I even set aside crosswords in the evening in an attempt to read, and still only go through one book! When podcasts that interested me ran out, I did engage in an audiobook, and it turned out to be the best book of the month! I then put it in high gear and finished seven books in the last week (including a few more audiobooks). Will I actually read 100 books total this year? We shall see....
42) Finally Free by Michael Vick with Brett Honeycutt and Stephen Copeland— Though not my typical type of book, this was an interesting read. Michael Vick was a standout, stand-up football player, the “first African-American quarterback in history to be picked first overall in the NFL draft..." until he wasn't. He became a disgraced felon, imprisoned for his role in dogfighting rings, and then he came back. With the accountability and support of people like Coach Tony Dungy, Vick came out of prison to try to fulfill three goals raise his children in the Lord, become a role model for young people, and be a better NFL quarterback than when he left. His is a story of steps forward and steps back, of stumbles, and of attempts at recovery. More a book about the inner workings of Vick's life than football, this is a story that causes readers to think, about their judgments of Vick, and about the potential for redemption in their own lives.
As the Sports Spectrum co-authors write in the introduction:
We [are] left to determine what we [are] going to do with the Vick issue. [Will] we forgive?
This, then, is a story about the rest of us as it is about Michael Vick. It will chronicle perhaps the most remarkable personal and professional turnaround in pro sports history.”
I have not heard as much about Michael Vick lately, but his message rings echoes that of the apostle John in the Bible, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (English Standard Version, 2016, John 8:36).
43) Coming Back Stronger by Drew Brees with Chris Fabry—I really enjoyed this book! I will be honest and say that I probably missed most of the football references, however. Football is not my thing, but human interest stories are, and this was a good one! Drew Brees planned to play pro baseball, but he got into football in high school. During high school, he came back from an ACL injury to play at Purdue. He went to play for the Chargers in the NFL, but after a severe shoulder-injury, he got cut. He thought about going to the Miami Dolphins, but found a home with the New Orleans Saints. His faith and tenacity kept him coming back, and that helped him lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. There is a little bit of health/wealth/abundance theology in this book, but more of it is about working hard and trusting God. There are lots of one-liners worth requoting, and I have already shared some of the life lessons I got from this book with others. All in all, I think it’s a good memoir, for both fans of football, and fans of the human story.
44) The Air We Breathe by Christa Parrish—Part thriller, part mystery, and part stories of redemption, this book also took me a while to get into. It is artfully written, following the stories of two different women in two different time periods. The character, Hanna Suller and Claire Rodriguez, both face insurmountable psychological pains. They need to learn to love themselves, others, and God, again. They need to find strength to break out of their prisons and breathe fresh air. I could not read this book at night due to the trauma portrayed, but I was glad I finished it when I got to the end. Having read all the library's book by this author now, I do wonder what her own story is. Given the depth of pain her characters experience, perhaps she, too, has a redemption story?
45) Until I Found You by Victoria Bylin—This was a good book, and it still took me some time to read it. Bylin writes in an interview on her website that her books are about “redemption, resurrection, and restoration.” This book falls into all of these categories. There is wrestling with God. There is a unique aspect of condor restoration that the author ties in with the stories of marketing expert Kate Darby, bad-boy-turned-Christ-follower Nick Sheridan, and Kate’s grandmother Leona. The plot has lots of stops and starts, which maybe fits with the story, but it felt jarring because I could not tell if these were intentional, or due to writing that needs more refinishing. All in all this was a good book, and I finished. I have not found any other library books from this author that I want to read, though.
46) On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living by Alan Noble—This is definitely one of the best books on mental illness/mental health that I have read in a long time! In it, Professor Alan Noble provides a balanced approach to the topic, naming its nuances and inconsistencies, all while insisting that people get support and help. He insists that getting out of bed in an act of worship, a testament, and a witness. He neither condemns suicide not encourages it, stating that God's grace is enough to cover all sin, and “giving up” fails to love neighbors because it gives them an excuse to give up, too. The last few chapters name practical ways to cope with ongoing, chronic mental illness, suggesting that sometimes the right thing to do is drop everything and seek help, and sometimes it is to put others before self and keep going. I appreciated this short read (two hours and eighteen minutes on audiobook) and highly, highly recommend it. As Noble states, whether you have struggled with mental affliction yourself, someone you know has, and they need you, and you need them.
47) Finding Kind: Discovering Hope and Purpose While Loving Kids with Invisible Neurological Differences by Kari A. Baker—Kari Baker always wanted to be a mom, and when she became one to Brady, she felt delighted. As Brady aged, though, she noticed some differences in him. Then he received a diagnosis of autism. In this book, Baker chronicles some of her journey as Brady’s mother. She shares how this journey grew both her faith in God and her empathy for fellow humans. This book is not treatment advice, but rather more of a spiritual memoir. Baker ends not with platitudes about Brady having a rosy future, but with gratitude for how her son’s journey continues to help her find kind and discover hope and purpose. That is the ultimate good, and a hope for parents whose children struggle, and may always struggle. Finding kind is not about finding ultimate earthly healing or success, but about finding and seeking God’s strength as the source of hope and purpose, for only His strength is enough to sustain the hard work of parenting a child with special needs.
48) The Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano—Carla Laureano has a special way of weaving food into her books, and she did it again with this one. Chef Rachel Bishop has worked her way from the bottom of the food industry to the top, but loses everything in a misplaced, misused statement to the media. Writer Alex Kanin takes some of the blame for her fall from fame and tries to make it up to her. When he offers to try to help Rachel, she reluctantly takes him up on it, and a tenuous partnership to put on “supper club” dinners begins. Along the way, both must wrestle with trust, their pasts, and what God has for them. This novel's plot seemed to resolve just a bit too quickly, in my opinion, but that might partly have been because my book contained previews of Laureano's next books, causing me to think I had more to read than I really did. All in all, I enjoyed the book and look forward to more Saturday night reading from this series.
49) The Ministry of Ordinary Places: Waking Up to God’s Goodness Around You by Shannan Martin—This book was not quite what I expected. What I expected was a book about faithfulness in the home. What I read was a book about paying attention to and living faithfully in community. Shannan Martin and her family went from living comfortably to living and finding community on "the wrong side of the tracks." Martin has a lot to say about paying attention, about forming relationships rather than making judgements, and about truly learning to love and be loved on. Martin shares honest and vulnerable stories, sometimes along with self-deprecating humor. She encourages faithfulness in the small things, stating that this is the true definition of success. This book was not earth-shattering, but rather gently challenging and reinforcing. People moving to new areas for ministry might especially benefit from reading it, as their ministry might just be more in the ordinary than in the extraordinary.
50) Over It: How to Face Life’s Hurdles With Grit, Hustle, and Grace by Lolo Jones—I enjoyed listening to this book in audio. Read by Olympian bobsledder and hurdler LoLo Jones, it chronicles her journey from a broken, impoverished childhood to that of an inspiring, albeit controversial, athlete. Lolo is a self-proclaimed Christian, but an atypical one in some ways. She doesn’t believe that language impacts her testimony, and she curses throughout the book. She believes in care and kindness, but has a temper, and is currently banned from using Olympic training facilities due to cursing at staff. While LoLo Jones isn’t a golden girl, not standing up as a perfect Christian, and having not yet won an Olympic medal, if readers can get over the language in her book, it’s a good one.
51) Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe by Carla Laureano—Baker Melody Johansson has had a string of relationships that went up in flames. She lost her pastry job when her friend Rachel Bishop resigned from her chef job. Now Melody is at a run-of-the-mill bakery, exhausted, but thinking she has no other options. When Pilot Justin Keller rolls in and sweeps her off her feet, she begins to think that things are looking up, only for it to seem like everything crashes and burns. There is a little bit of spiritual inequality in the romance represented here, but overall some good lessons to learn about learning to trust God and people, and putting down roots. The books in this series are longer than some I read, but I am up and ready to consume the next one!
52) Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier—This is a controversial book, to be sure, but if read objectively, it’s a qualitative study on the rising prevalence of the transgender identity, particularly for girls. Journalist Abigail Shrier writes compellingly, using a collection of composite stories, interviews with experts, and straight up research. She does not suggest that gender dysphoria does not exist. Rather, she suggests that transgenderism might be becoming a social contagion, drawing in girls struggling with things like anxiety, body dysmorphia, and social anxiety. Rushing these girls into choosing a different identity and supporting them with medical interventions like surgery and testosterone shots might not be the right answers, she suggests. Rather, these interventions might be causing irreversible damage. Re-envisioning what it looks like to “be a girl,” uplifting women (rather than putting them down or comparing them to men), and providing community support might be better answers. If individuals want to transition, they can do so as adults. Regardless of where people stand on the issue of transgender identity, I think this is a book worth reading because ultimately, it is a book about valuing humans, all of them, in all of their differences: men, women, children, boys, girls, and even adults who have chosen to change the way they identify.
53) Uncanceled: Finding Meaning and Peace in a Culture of Accusations, Shame, and Condemnation by Phil Robertson—Duck Dynasty Patriarch Phil Robertson might surprise readers with his very intelligent, pastoral writing in this (relatively) short book. In it, Robertson explains why he believes that cancel culture holds power for people of the world and not for people of the gospel. People of the gospel have always been cancelled, he states, but cancelling has to do with guilt and shame, and Jesus cancelled all that on the cross. This book is rich with scripture and with Phil's heart for the unbeliever. If you call yourself a Christian, read this book. Robertson has something to say, and as the next to last book he published before his death in 2025, I think it leaves behind a great legacy.
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