What’s On Your Nightstand: April 2011

I almost forgot about this month’s Nightstand carnival over at 5 Minutes for Books. I like to participate, to see what others are reading and to take stock of my own mental furniture over the last month.

Here’s what I’ve read since the last Nightstand, with blurbs from my reviews:

Linnets and Valerians (Elizabeth Goudge): “The opening chapters have the Elizabeth Goudge trademark of wonderful place descriptions, as well as entertaining and lovable characters and a goodly dose of humor. A bit farther in, however, it became apparent that in order to read this aloud to my children, I would need to be prepared to talk about witchcraft, voodoo dolls, so-called white magic, and the interweaving of folklore and myth with fact in a way that’s misleading and confusing.” Full review here.

Decision Points (George W. Bush): “Former President George Bush’s Decision Points hasn’t been an easy read for me. Politics isn’t a world where I feel very at home or savvy, and of course this book is an account of a life steeped in politics. I would class it as an apologia, a defense and explanation of the decisions Mr. Bush made at various key points in his life, and while I didn’t always agree with those choices, I come away from the book with a fuller appreciation of the contexts in which they were made, a refreshed sense of the eight years of his presidency “at a glance,” and a liking for the man.” Full review here.

The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster): “Now I understand why it’s a classic, and why so many people say that when they read it as a child they called it the best book ever. It’s an absolutely dazzling show of wit and wisdom.” Full review here.

Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians (James Gilchrist Lawson): “Even though the details of how God performs his deepening work in a life seemed a bit limiting to me, this book inspires by reminding us that there is always a “further up and further in,” and it’s those who ask, seek, and knock who find.” Full review here.

Cranford (Elizabeth Gaskell): “I found it to be a sleepy read in which nothing much happens — until, unexpectedly,  the veil would be pulled back and a moment of real pathos or heroism would flare out. These were the moments that redeemed the book for me.” Full review here.

Parenting Is Your Highest Calling (Leslie Leyland Fields): “Leslie Leyland Fields debunks a number of perfectionistic expectations that can lurk below the radar and leave us with the nagging feeling that we’re sub-par as parents.” Full review here.

The Next Story (Tim Challies): “Like many of us, I’ve been piecing together my own views and seeking to develop my own practices as not just a modern person in a technological world, but a Christian modern person. The Next Story has been very helpful to me because it raises the very questions I’ve been asking and works through them in a systematic way.” Full review here.

“Fidelity” (Wendell Berry): A reread of a short story by Wendell Berry. “Sometimes we need the coherence that only poetry can provide. “Fidelity,” as well as the other stories in this collection, lends us the eyes of a poet who can glimpse an underlying unity, and capture in words those shimmers of meaning that go far beyond words.” Full review here.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. “If I were in the habit of rating books, I wouldn’t call this a great one. But I still enjoyed it immensely. It provided for me what my favorite prof in college used to call “an encapsulating aesthetic experience.” There was an effortlessness to reading it. I can see why it has been so popular.” Full review here.

“The Boundary” (Wendell Berry): Another reread of a short story about Mat Feltner. I haven’t reviewed it yet, but I think it’s a masterpiece.

Currently I’m reading Goodnight Mr Tom, a story recommended by a friend who commented on my “potato peel book” post. I just started it yesterday, and it’s excellent. The girls and I are enjoying Caddie Woodlawn together — a favorite from my own younger days.

You can check out the other posts in this carnival here. Happy reading!