Hardball by Sara Paretsky

V.I. Warshawski is a female detective in Chicago. Somehow in the course of her investigations, she seems to get herself almost killed in a bunch of different ways. Yet in spite of the obstacles she faces, she is able to figure out the 'whodunit' and triumph over those who would see her fail. Hardball finds her performing a missing persons search for someone who disappeared roughly 40 years ago. In the process of trying to find this person, an old murder trial comes to her attention where she begins to suspect the wrong person was convicted for the murder.

I have enjoyed every V.I. Warshawski book I have read. The writing draws me into the story, her character is flawed and real, and the suspense keeps the pages turning. I actually picked up one of the books in the middle of the series first - Hard Time - before realizing it was part of a series. I then went back and read the series from the beginning (skipping Hard Time when I got to it since I'd already read it). I'm actually thinking I might want to go back and re-read this series again as they are quite enjoyable mysteries. It's also interesting to watch V.I. Warshawski's character develop over the years. While you don't have to read the books in order (each book can stand alone), it's more fun to read the series in order so you get the character progression as well as the advance of technology as time goes on.

The series in order (per Stop You're Killing Me site):
Indemnity Only
Deadlock
Killing Orders
Bitter Medicine
Blood Shot
Burn Marks
Guardian Angel
Tunnel Vision
Windy City Blues (short story collection)
Hard Time
Total Recall
Blacklist
Fire Sale
Hardball
Body Work - I haven't read this one yet

Radical by David Platt

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! Just wow! This is a challenging and convicting book. It really makes you think about how much we have Americanized our Christianity. We have become comfortable in our lives, living the American dream, while millions of people have still never heard of the gospel of Jesus. Our lives don't reflect what Jesus taught - "take up your cross, deny yourself". The book talks about much of what Jesus taught and how our lives in American Christianity do not reflect what He taught. The challenge is to wake up and see the world around us. To see what we can do to make a difference. At the end, the author calls for a 1 year Radical Experiment designed to change our perspective and thinking.

*I own this book

Toxic Faith by Stephen Arterburn & Jack Felton

Toxic Faith by Stephen Arterburn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overview of what an addiction is. Detailed information on how religious addiction starts. Signs of a toxic faith. How recovery from religious addiction can happen.


Here are some of the toxic beliefs that can indicate being part of a toxic faith/religious addiction:
-God's love and favor depend on my behavior.
-When tragedy strikes, true believers should have a real peace about it.
-If I have real faith, God will heal me or someone I am praying for.
-Problems in my life result from some particular sin.
-I must not stop meeting others' needs.
-God uses only spiritual giants.
-A strong faith will protect me from problems and pain.
-More than anything else, God wants me to be happy.

The following list was taken from a book by Peter Benson & Carolyn Eklin and is quoted in this book:
"The Nature of Mature Faith
A study researching faith came up with eight core dimensions that indicate the maturity of one's faith. A mature believer:
1. Trusts in God's saving grace and believes firmly in the humanity and divinity of Jesus.
2. Experiences a sense of personal well-being, security, and peace
3. Integrates faith and life, seeing work, family, social relationships, and political choices as part of one's religious life
4. Seeks spiritual growth through study, reflection, prayer, and discussion with others
5. Seeks to be part of a community of believers in which people give witness to their faith and support and nourish one another
6. Holds life-affirming values, including commitment to racial and gender equality, affirmation of cultural and religious diversity, and a personal sense of responsibility for the welfare of others
7. Advocates social and global change to bring about greater social justice
8. Serves humanity consistently and passionately through acts of love and justice"

Overall, good book on this topic of religious addiction and spiritual abuse.

*I own this book

Challenge Progress

I think this will be my last year of doing challenges, at least for a while as I am too much of a mood reader and want to read what I want when I want, rather than feeling obligated to read a book because it's on a challenge list.

TBR Challenge - finished 6 of 12

Medical Mystery Madness - finished 3 of 4

Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge - finished 4 of 12

Chick Lit Challenge - finished 3 of 8

Christian Non-Fiction Challenge - finished 5 of 10 (my personal goal is 12, so 5 of 12)

What's in a Name 4 - finished 3 of 6

Futuristic/Sci-Fi - finished 1 of 4

Operation Deepen Faith - Level 1 - 0 of 3 translations for Ephesians; Level 2 - 0 of 2 theological books (need to get a move on with this 1!)

Looks like I should be able to finish the Medical Mystery Madness challenge no problem, though I'm behind on the Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge. But overall, I guess I'm not doing too bad on the challenges so far.

Library vs. Owned

I believe I struggle with the same dilemma that many avid readers do in that I am torn between the books I already own that I want to read and the lure of the books that the library has that I also want to read. Now that I have discovered the beauty of the inter-library loan and the vast amount of books that have now been made available at the tip of my fingers, the problem has become even more pronounced. :-)

How do you solve the dilemma between reading your own books and getting books out of the library? Or do you just ignore it and read what you want when you want? Do you feel guilty for getting books out of the library instead of reading your own?

Faithful by Kim Cash Tate

Faithful by Kim Cash Tate

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an excellent novel dealing with real issues in a realistic way. It features 3 women and the struggles they face in their walk with God. One woman discovers her husband is having an affair and must deal with the fallout. Another struggles with wanting her husband to become a believer so they can have a deeper spiritual connection. The 3rd woman is single and 40, not what she had thought her life would be like. Will she remain faithful to God when temptation comes her way?

I liked that not every difficulty was resolved by the end of the book, making it more real. The situations were true to life which made it easy to relate to the characters.

*I own this book, obtained through paperbackswap

Christianish by Mark Steele

Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All? by Mark Steele

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book - a fun and quick read, it is also convicting to look at my life and see how much I have been absorbed into the American Christianity subculture around me. Too often we live according to our own perception of Christianity rather than what the Bible teaches about following Jesus. Such as not being overly bothered with sins we consider minor such as gossip and thinking we're fine since we don't commit the "big" ones (adultery, murder, etc.). Acting superior to others who we think "have it wrong", considering ourselves to be the only ones who really know the truth.

Recommended - challenging book about living your faith in today's culture.

Inter-Library Loans

So I have discovered a wonderful thing - requesting books through the inter-library system. One of the perks of living in a metro area is the vast amount of libraries that are networked together. I have found a whole list of books that I want to read that I can request through other libraries. So even if my library doesn't have them, I can request them to be sent to my library for pick-up.

I currently have out

as well as

through the inter-library loan system. A book lover's dream!

Facebook

Do you have a Facebook page for your blog? After my cousin started a page for her blog, I started checking some of the blogs that I follow in Google Reader and discovered several had fan pages on Facebook. So I thought it might be a neat idea to do one as well. The link to the page is in my sidebar. Feel free to "like" me if you feel so inclined. :-)

Let me know if you have a fan page on Facebook also so I can check it out.

Crave by Chris Tomlinson

Crave: Wanting So Much More of God by Chris Tomlinson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book wasn't on my reading list but in browsing at the local library I saw it and it intrigued me. When flipping through it, I saw the line at the beginning of one of the chapters that said "I don't like people all that much." Since I struggle with this same tendency, it immediately grabbed my interest and I checked it out. I'm really glad I did.

This was an excellent book on wanting to know God more and wanting to crave more of Him. It takes us through some of the distractions that keep us from craving more of God. The things that we allow into our lives that take our energy and focus away from God. Being comfortable where we are, instead of reaching out to others who need Jesus in their lives. Being more concerned about staying comfortable instead of listening to God's voice telling us to step out of our comfort zone to follow Him.
"You've settled for comfort rather than Christ, but your cravings for God are slowly thawing your cold heart."
"So Jesus is speaking to all of us comfortable Christians, asking us to get off our couches and follow Him, to lay ourselves on the altar of life for His sake."
"I am far more likely to act in my own self-interest, to meet my own needs without fully considering the needs of others. I think this is how I became so comfortable in the first place, thinking primarily about myself and making decisions that maximize my own security."
The book goes on to remind us that we are living in God's story, not our own. We are not the star of the story, God is. We are just an extra. It's not about us.
Will we value God more than anything else? Will our joy be in Him rather than the things of this world?

Good stuff!
*Got this book through my local library

Counterfeit Gospels contest

Moody Books is having a contest to give away an ipad. You can go here to see how to enter. I haven't read this book yet but recently got it and am looking forward to reading it as it seems to be so prevalent today that so many things claim to be the truth but really aren't. And they lead us down wrong pathways.

One of the ways to enter is posting a photo of yourself with the book. So in spite of the not so great picture (self-taken with cell phone), I'm including it as part of my entry. :-)

The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel

The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Started off a little light but then took off with some quite convicting truths to consider. This was a great reminder that just believing in God is not enough. We need to live out what we believe. Some of the chapters dealt with issues such as believing in God, but not trusting Him and continuing to worry; believing in God but not being part of His church; believing in God but trusting more in money than Him; believing in God but pursuing a life of happiness at any cost.

I took almost 3 pages worth of notes in my quotes notebook. :-)

"With God, all things are possible - even the thing that you think isn't."
"We change by his power, not by ours."
"Change won't just take all the strength you have; it will take more. You need God's power."
"You can't change in your own power. If you feel overwhelmed by something bigger than you, let the one who is bigger than all things be the power you need in your weakness."

"Worry is the result of trying to carry a burden that never belonged on our shoulders."
"...we're admitting we don't actually trust God. In our minds, our God is too small, and we must come to our own rescue."
"Can your worry change anything? No. Can God change anything? Absolutely he can."

"...we venture into extremely dangerous territory when we start to believe that God's ultimate plan for us is our happiness."
"...here-and-now happiness doesn't fit God's desire for our lives."
"When we believe our pursuit of happiness gives us license to sin, we become Christian Atheists. God never condones sin, no matter how happy it makes us, or seems to make us."
"God also doesn't want us to be happy when our happiness is based on the things in this world."
"Our actions confirm that a disturbing number of us truly believe this equation: better possessions + peaceful circumstances + thrilling experiences + the right relationships + the perfect appearance = happiness."
"Our culture has conditioned us to believe that the things we don't have are the things that will make us happy..."
"When we believe the things of this world will provide happiness, we're settling for a counterfeit."
"God hates it when we pass up on the real life and settle for the false promises of this world."
"The happiness of this world is based on fickle happenings, but the blessings of God transcend the things this world offers."
"It's only when we manage to quiet the Christian Atheist in us and seek God and his kingdom over the empty and hollow things of this world that we can experience true and lasting blessing."
"We are not happy with the things of this world because we're not made for this world!"
"We will never discover lasting happiness in the temporary things of this world because we weren't made to live a temporary life. That's why we should lower our expectations of this place. Earth is not heaven. It was never meant to be. That's why no amount of money, new house... or new anything will ever satisfy us, because we were not made for the things of this world."
"Real happiness is found only in the Lord, and when we find it we'll understand, perhaps for the first time, how blessed we really are."

"We want God's benefits without changing how we live. We want his best, without our sacrifices."
"We still love this world. We'll pursue happiness at any cost."
"...get what we can from God without giving much, if anything, back."
"Instead of truly living as followers of Christ, many lull themselves into a sense of false comfort. What if they're really 'cultural Christians,' false believers?"
"What would it take to make my life nothing to me, existing only to do what Christ wants me to?"
"Every day, we'll choose to live out our belief in God instead of believing in the world or ourselves."