Reading Log for July, 2012

I know, a long time coming on this one!

Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains With the Smith Center Redmen - Joe Draper - 4 - for some reason, I love sports stories.  I don't love sports, so go figure.  This is the story of the Smith Center Redmen and their coach Roger Barta.  Smith Center is a town of 1,900 in western Kansas.  They had been written up in Sports Illustrated because they had won 55 straight games and 4 straight state championships.  The author moved his wife and son from Manhattan to Smith Center to write about their upcoming season.  The coach was in his 30th year and considering retirement, they had just graduated the "dream team" senior class, and they were tied in the record books for most consecutive state championships.  The book is about the team, but even more about the town of Smith Center, about how the community completely supports the team, the school, teachers, etc.  They are not the Friday Night Lights variety of fanaticism - they are just right there for their kids.  If I ever decided to put my kids in school, we would have to move to Smith Center.

American Diabetes Association Complete Guide to Diabetes- 5 - my new "guide for life" - nice big book, covers everything, has been extremely helpful.

Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference In Our Daily Lives - 4 - Wendy Horger Alsup - I follow her blog by the same name.  I thought this brief book was very good in explaining who God is- the real God of the Bible - in terms anyone could understand.

Killing Calvinism: How to Destroy a Perfectly Good Theology from the Inside- 4 - Greg Dutcher - this is one you need to be Reform to get.  Reform folks sometimes have a reputation for being arrogant in their theology and "knowledge".  There is even a term for someone who is new to the Doctrines of Grace - "cage stage" - as in, they are on fire with new understanding of scripture and socially...they should be put in a cage for a while.  I found it very practical and enjoyable, and a good admonition.

Meeting God at Every Turn- 4 - Catherine Marshall - A series of essays of the different points in her life (going to college, marriage to Peter Marshall, her illness, his death, grieving, remarriage blending families, etc.) and how God met her at each point.  There were some definite aspects of her personal theology that I did not agree with (quite a bit of NVP "Power of Positive Thinking" mixed in, which surprised me)but overall it was very uplifting.    

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - 5 - C.S. Lewis - what can I say?  This is my second go 'round.  Read the series to my older sons a few years ago, now it is a bedtime read with the younger boys.